LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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WASHII^GTON NAVEL. 



THE 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS 



HOW TO GROW THEM. 



A MANUAL OF METHODS WHICH HAVE YIELDED GREATEST SUCCESS; WITH 

LISTS OF VARIETIES BEST ADAPTED TO THE DIFFERENT 

DISTRICTS OF THE STATE. 



BY EDWARD J,'WICKSON, A. M. 

Lecturer on Horticulture in the College of Agriculture, University of California; Horticultural 

Editor, Pacific Rural Press, of San Francisco; Secretary, California State 

Horticultural Society; President, California State Floral Society; 

Ex-President, San Francisco Microscopical Society, Etc. 



' The branch here bends beneath the weighty pcai 
And verdant olives flourish roiuid the year. 
The balmy spirit of the western gale 
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail; 
Each dropping pear a following pear supplies; 
On apples, apples, figs on figs arise; 
The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, 
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow." 

— Pope's H out. 0,/ys. BA: I'Ji 



FIRST EDITION. 



PUBLISHED nv 

DEWEY & CO.. 
Proprietors Pacific Rural Press 
San Francisco, Cal. 
1889. 




Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1889, nv 

EDWARD J. IVJCKSON AND DEIVEV &> CO. 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



NS.\H fORl^ kHO SIkH f«kHC\SCO, 



TO 
MY ESTEEMED ASSOCIATES 

<1F THE 

CALIFORNIA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 

THIS WORK IS 

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED: 

WITH THE 

FRANK AND GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGEME>rT 

THAT 

WHATEVER HEREIN BE FOUND TRUE AND VALUABLE 

IS, IN THE MAIN, 
A DEDUCTION FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE AND PRACTICE 

OR THEREBY SUGGESTED. 



PI^EFACE. 



The wonderful growth of the fruit interest of California and the disposition to 
engage in fruit growing, both among Californians who have hitherto followed other 
pursuits and among the many intelligent and enterprising people who are now 
choosing California as a home and a field for effort and investment, have made a de- 
mand for a manual of successful practices under the peculiar conditions which prevail 
here. 

The excellent works of eastern and foreign authors are of but indirect value 
because our soils and climates render their advice and suggestions for practice in 
many respects inapplicable, and the varieties of fruit which they commend are often 
ill suited to our conditions. 

It is evident that Horticulture in California must create a literature of its own, 
and it is fair to expect that in the future, as the greatness of the interest is more 
nearly attained, there will be literary labors achieved which will be commensurate 
with the charm and importance of the theme. 

Hitherto the literature of our fruit interest has consisted in the valuable reports 
of our State institutions, in monographs on several semi-tropical fruits, and in con- 
tributions to the columns of periodical publications, and though these records of ex- 
perience have been of much value, they are not widely available to the general reader. 
It is high time that an effort should be made to give the results of this experience a 
permanent form, convenient for reference. This is the object held in view by the 
writer of this work. He arrogates to himself no originality beyond buch as may be 
exhibited in its style and method of presenting facts, to obtain which, he has. for a 
number of years, occupied exceptionally favorable positions. In the work he is 
actuated by a sincere devotion to horticultural arts and enjoyment of them, and an 
earnest desire to assist the thousands who are embarking, or desirous to embark, in 
California fruit growing, but who have little or no practical acquaintance with its 
methods or materials. 

The author desires to return his sincere thanks to the hundreds of friends whose 
experience has been so freely related in answer to his requests for practical informa- 
tion. The aim has been throughout the work to fully acknowledge the sources whence 
aid has been received, both because of honesty and fairness, and that this work 
might also serve as an index to the horticultural experience and literature of the 

(V) 



vi Preface. 

Slate, and to indicate many by whose observation, thought, and enterprise, practical 
methods have been successfully devised to meet the requirements of a new country. 

To the publishers special acknowledgement is due for the generous provision 
made for full illustration and embellishment of the work. The full-page plates of 
California seedling fruits are made by the Dewey Engraving Co., by a photographic 
process directly from the fruit itself, thus securing striking fidelity to nature which 
must commend itself to all. 

Notwithstanding the careful effort which has been put forth, this work will be 

found in some respects incorrect and incomplete. The writer will be grateful to any 

reader who will p )int out inaccuracies or furnish information which will supply any 

deficiency. The .State is great, its conditions are diverse, and it is only by the 

fullest sympathy and helpfulness among all observers and practical workers that truth 

and accuracy can be attained. To this end correspondence with fruit growers is 

earnestly solicited. 

Edward J. Wickson. 

Berkeley, Alameda County, California, June, i88g. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. PART FIRST: GENERAL. 

I. The Climate of California and its Local Modifications 9 

IL Why the California Climate Specially Favors the Growth of Fruits 20 

in. The Fruit Soils of California 29 

IV. The Wild Fruits of California 49 

V. California Mission Fruits 61 

VI. Introduction of Improved Fruit Varieties 69 

PART SECOND: CULTURAL. 

VII. Clearing Land for Fruit 79 

VIII. The Nursery 94 

IX. Budding and Grafting 105 

X. Preparation for Planting. ... 119 

X I. Planting the Trees 132 

X 1 1. Pruning Orchard Trees 147 

XIII. Cultivation 168 

XIV. Fertilizers for Fruit Trees and Vines 186 

XV. Irrigation of Fruit Trees and Vines 200 

PART THIRD: ORCHARD FRUITS. 

XVI. The Apple 223 

XVIL The Apricot 241 

XVIIL The Cherry 265 

XIX. The Peach ' 285 

XX. The Nectarine 313 

XXI. The Pear 31? 

XXII. Plums and Prunes 336 

XXIII. The Quince 353 

PART FOURTH: THE GRAPE. 

XXIV. Rise and Progress of the Grape Interest 356 

XXV. Propagating and Planting Vines 362 

XXVI. Pruning and Care of the Vine 377 

XXVII. Grape Varieties in California 389 

PART FIFTH: SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS. 

XXVIII. The Date 395 

XXIX. The Fig 402 

XXX. The Olive 414 

[vii] 



viii Contents. 

WXl. The Orange 43^ 

X.WIl The Lemon, Lime, etc 457 

XXXIIL Minor Semi-Tropical Fruits 462 

PART SIXTH: SMALL FRUITS. 

XXXIW ISerries and Currants 472 

PART SFVENTH: NUTS. 

XXX\'. Nut (Irowing in California 491 

PART EIGHTH: FRUIT PRESERVATION. 

\X XVI. Fruit Canning, Crystallizing and Drying 509 

PART NINTH: FRUIT PROTECTION. 

XXXVII. Injurious Insects 530 

XXXVIII. Suppression of Injurious Animals and Birds 552 

XXXIX. Protection from Winds and Frosts 557 

PART TENTH: MISCELLANEOUS. 

XL. Melon Growing 561 

XLI. Fi uit Packages 564 



California Fruits. 



Part First: General. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ITS LOCAL 
MODIFICATIONS. 

It has become somewhat trite to speak of ch'mate as one of 
the resources of California, but the allusions are made sometimes 
in a spirit of raillery, or, if seriously, with only a partial appre- 
ciation of the real value of this accredited asset of the State. It 
is not alone its significance as an item in real-estate valuation, 
nor its importance as a remedial agent, nor its measure as one 
of the delights of living, nor all these combined, which gives the 
most tangible proof of the value of the climate of California. 
This proof can be found rather in a proper estimate of its value 
as an actual factor in production. It would be foreign to this 
work to attempt an adequate estimate of this kind, for it would 
lead far beyond the limits of the fruit industry. It would in- 
clude the elements of early maturity and unchecked growth in 
all animals the flesh or products of which are used for food, 
the precocity, speed, and endurance of our horses, the fineness 
and weight of our product of wool and mohair, and the growth 
and yield of all field and garden products. In every agricult- 
ural effort, the climate of California stands beside the producer 
as a constant and enduring friend and co-worker. Thus a 
mysterious and uncontrollable force, which most agriculturists 
fear, because it has long been written that "no man can farm 
against climate," becomes in California an ally of the producer 
who is intelligent enough to choose his location in accordance 
with a few easily ascertained conditions. 

la (9) 



10 



IV/ir California Has a Mild Climate. 



So many excellent essays and reports have been written 
upon the climate of California and the Pacific Coast that it will 
not be desirable or necessary to attempt an elaborate com- 
pilation of facts concerning it* For the benefit of the new- 
comer or the distant reader it may be desirable to offer a few 
general statements to indicate some of the chief climatic con- 
ditions under which the practices described in other chapters are 
carried on. 

The climate of the Pacific Coast is described by the mete- 
orologist as "insular or moderate," as contrasted with the "con- 
tinental or excessive" climate of the Atlantic Coast. The west 
coast of Europe is also insular in its climate. The northern 
limit of an annual mean temperature of 50° Fahr. is about 51° 
30' of north latitude on both western coasts of Europe and 
America. But though there is this similarity in mean annual 
temperature, there is a decided advantage pertaining to our cli- 
mate over that of West Europe in that our range of temperature 
is less; that is: extremes of heat and cold are nearer together, 
and changes are therefore much less excessive. This charac- 
teristic of our local climates is due in the main to two great 
agencies: one active, bringing heat; the other passive, shielding 
us from Arctic influences. 

First: The great Japanese current, composed of two streams 
of heated water from the Indian Ocean, which join off the coast 
of Japan, and, proceeding northerly, divide again. The main 
body, coming toward the west coast of America, turns easterly 
and southerly, flowing along the coast of Oregon and California. 
These waters produce such an effect on the climate, owing to 
the warmth they bring with them, that, as Von Baer tells us, 
"On the south side of Alaska you meet with humming-birds, 
while the northern shores, which are washed by tlie cold current 
coming out of Behring's Straits, are visited by walruses." This 
stream brings heat to our coast, as the Gulf Stream does to that 
of Europe, but, owing to the great distance across the Pacific, it 
does not bring the violent storms and calorific and electric 
phenomena which sometimes accom.pany the Gulf Stream across 
the narrower Atlantic. In its long course the Japanese current 
spends its meteorological fury on the east coast of Asia and 
brings us only the welcome trade-winds during the summer 
months, which, though they may be counted rather harsh at 
certain points immediately on the coast, and at these points 
may prevent the ripening of certain fruits, as will be shown, they 
are esteemed as a mitigative of summer heat. This gentle ocean 

*I would note especially for their excellence and availability the reports by Seryt. J. A. Bar- 
wick in the publications of the California State Agricultural Society for 1886 and 1887". 



Three Climatic Hclts. 1 1 

current finds but slight counter current in the upper Pacific, be- 
cause the Straits of Behring are too narrow and shallow to allow 
egress to any considerable amount of Arctic waters, so that the 
Pacific is not vexed with a frigid flow, carrying icebergs to low 
latitudes, as is the case in the waters of the Atlantic. For three 
hundred days in the year the air currents from this vast body of 
warm, placid waters flow over California, moderating summer 
heat and winter cold, and, impinging on the western slope of 
the Sierra Nevada, give to the foot-hills, up to a certain elevation, 
a valley climate and a valley range of products, as will be noted 
later. 

Second: Another agency contributing to the mild climate 
of the Pacific Coast is passive and consists in the mountain 
barriers upon our northern and eastern boundaries. Redding 
says it was Guyot who first called attention to the fact that the 
Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains reach the coast of 
Alaska and bend like a great arm around its western and south- 
ern shore, thus shutting off or deflecting the polar winds that 
otherwise would flow down over Oregon and California. 

CHIEF TOrOGRArHICAL AND CLIMATIC DIVISIONS OF CALI- 
FORNIA. 

California is usually divided into three main areas and cli- 
mates, each distinct in typical conditions and yet separated by 
regions, more or less wide, in which these conditions merge and 
influence each other. Dr. Robertson sa^^s: * 

Isothermal lines which normally run east and west are, as they near the Pacific, 
ileflected north andsouth, and define three distinct climatic belts. These maybenamed 
coast, valley, and mountain; and while they resemble each other in having only two 
seasons, they are dissimilar in other respects. These differences depend upon the to- 
pography of the country, and are of degree rather than of kind; altitude, distance from 
the ocean, and situation with reference to mountain chains, giving to each region its 
characteristic climate. 

How similar are the conditions which prevail in these belts 
may be learned from the data shown in the following table, 
which includes points separated by nearly the whole length of 
the State, the difference in latitude of the extreme north and 
south points being seven or eight degrees. Thus, through a north 
and south distance great as that which separates the States of 
Georgia and New York, similar climatic conditions prevail in 
California. In the following table the averages are deduced 
from observations by the United States Signal Service observers 
f)r a long series of years: — 



■^Report of State .Agricultural Society 



12 



These Belts Compared. 



Seasonal and Extreme Temperature and Rainfall at Various Sta- 
tions IN THE Climatic Belts of California. 



Station. 



County. 



Coast. 

San Diego 

Los Angeles. . . 

Santa Barbara.. 

Santa Cruz. . . . 

San Jose 

San Francisco. . 

Napa 

Hydesville . . . . 
Valley. 

Indio 

Riverside 

Fresno 

Sacramento. . . . 

Marysville 

Oroville 

Red Bluff 

Foot-hill. 

Auburn ....... 

Colfax 

(jeorgetown . . . 

Keene 

Mountain. 

Berryvale 

Aha 

Fort Bidwell. . 

Cisco 

Summit 

Tehachepi 

King's .Station. 



San Diego. . . . 
Los Angeles. . 
Santa Barbara 
Santa Cruz. 
Santa Clara 
San Francisco 

Napa 

Humboldt .. . 

San Diego. . . . 
SanBernardino 

Fresno 

Sacramento. . . 

Yul)a 

Butte 

Tehama 



3 3 



H> 


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n n 


n !I 




3 p 


■C ffo 


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n n 


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Placer .... 
Placer .... 
El Dorado 
Kern 



Siskiyou 

Placer 

Modoc 

Placer 

Placer 

Kern 

SanBernardino 



40 


54 


334 


54 


30 


54 


25 


52 


94 


49 


60 


51 


20 


49 




45 


12 


55 




50 


29 s 


50 


35 


48 


69 


50 


171 


52 


307 


47 


1363 


46 


2421 


46 


2750 


50 


2705 


44 


3462 


35 


3612 


42 


4647 


32 


5939 


32 


7017 


29 


3964 


39 


4300 


41 



3 5 



p > 







cr 




3 1^ 








tc "■ 






hJ 


ir 


(t 


p 




< "a 


TS 


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n 




p 


MP 
ft c 






3S 







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t-. <^ 



lOI 
112 
102 
98 
108 

95 
104 



121 
105 
"5 
106 
108 
102 
no 

106 
106 



64 102 
58 102 



102 

106 

100 

96 

95 
102 

99 



11 01 
17 64 
16 92 
25 88 

12 95 
24 25 
23 36 



24 38 49 



2 32 

8 16 

9 57 
19 80 
16 60 
22 II 
27 46 

33 15 
45 16 
60 04 
13 28 



9 28 76 

7 43 76 
19* 20 07 

9*!57 55 
10*47 95 
o 10 04 

12 [22 49 



*I{elow zero. 

LOCATIONS FOR THE GROWTH OF DIFFERENT FRUITS. 

It is intended to describe as definitely as possible the loca- 
tions suitable for the growth of different fruits in the special 
chapters given to those fruits, but there are a few general con- 
ditions which should be outlined. 

In discussing the choice of location for an orchard it is not 
intended to speak geographically. A few years ago men could 
have been found willing to definitely divide the State according 
to its adaptation for certain specified fruits, but most of them 
would decline to do it now. As has already been intimated, lati- 



Latitude of Little Ii)iportance. 13 

tude, which is a prime factor in geography, is of exceedingly 
small account as an indication of horticultural adaptations in 
California. The fact becomes strikingly apparent when it is 
known that the apple and the orange, fruit kings whose king- 
doms lie at opposite borders of the temperate zone, so far dis- 
tant that one may be called semi-frigid and the other semi- 
tropical, have in California utter disregard for the parallels 
of latitude, which set metes and bounds upon them in other 
lands, and flourish side by side, in suitable localities, from San 
Diego to Shasta. Impressive as this truth may be, it is not so 
startling as another fact, viz.: that fruits ripen earlier at the North 
than at the South — a complete reversal of the tenets of the 
geographer. 

It is apparent then that the selection of locations for or- 
chards must be made, with a knowledge of special conditions 
governing the distribution of equal temperatures and other nat- 
ural agencies contributing to the development of fruit. This dis- 
tribution, as has been intimated, is not by straight lines as in 
parallels of latitude, but by curves which proceed in various di- 
rections, governed chiefly by topography. These are curves of 
temperature, of rainfall, of elevation, of soil formation and de- 
posit. Geography retires from authority; topography and cli- 
matography govern. 

Let these ruling conditions be reviewed then briefly: first, 
as to general areas ; second, with reference to special situations 
and locations. 

COAST CLIMATE. 

The chief characteristics of the coast climate are equable 
temperature, increasing southward ; summers cool and winters 
warm as compared with interior; abundant rainfall, decreasing 
considerably .southward; a somewhat humid atmosphere, as 
compared with the interior; frequent fogs or overcast skies; 
prevailing westerly winds. 

The extension of coast influences toward the interior is 
governed by local topography. Coast valleys open to coast 
winds are cooler and moister and demand hardier fruits than 
valleys sheltered by intervening ranges. Gaps and passes in the 
ranges are subject to winds of considerable force and low tem- 
perature, and are not generally favorable for fruit; on the other 
hand, situations sheltered on the north and west favor growth of 
fruit even though quite near the coast. Sometimes a distance 
of a few miles, sometimes a wind-break of natural forest or of 
planted trees, so modifies coast influences that fruits do well. 
Elevation on the sides of coast valleys secures similar results. 



14 The Coast Cliinatc. 

For example, the floor of the I'ajaro Valley is well suited for 
apples, late pears, cherries, pliiins, prunes, and berries (except 
gooseberries), while on adjacent hills peaches do well. 

In Southern California coast winds are warmer than in the 
upper half of the State, but coast influences intrude farther, as a 
rule, because the hills near the coast in Southern California are 
low, the high ranges answering to the Coast Range of the upper 
part of the State, trending far into the interior. On the coast 
side of these ranges fruits ripen later than in sheltered interior 
points in the upper part of the State, but eastward of them, 
where soil and moisture favor, or irrigation is practiced, extra 
early locations have been found. 

Some of the horticultural effects of the conditions prevail- 
ing on the coast may be described as follows : — 

Late Ripening of Fruits. — The late ripening of fruits 
in most parts of Southern California has just been mentioned. 
Intrusion of coast influences has ihe same effect at the north. 
Directly on the coast at Pescadero, San Mateo County, for ex- 
ample, fruits ripen about a month later than in Santa Clara 
Valley, which is just across the Coast Range. Napa Valley, 
though about forty miles inland and sheltered by ranges of 
hills, still is sufficiently affected by coast influences to mature 
fruits considerably later than Vaca Valby, ten miles farther east, 
beyond a higher range, which completely bars out these influ- 
ences. In Ventura County, in a caiion sixteen miles from the 
ocean, and at an elevation of sixteen hundred feet, fruits ripen 
three weeks earlier than on the coast or in the valley opening 
thereon. 

Failure of Certain Fruits. — Though killing frosts are 
few directly on the coast, the deficiency in summer heat and sun- 
light renders some fruits unsatisfactory. This is especially the 
case in the upper coast region. Grapes and figs ripen imper- 
fectly, while but a short cHstance back from the coast, in shel- 
tered situations, they do well. Elevation sometimes produces 
corresponding effects. The complete reversal of coast conditions 
by local topography is seen in the Happy Camp region on the 
east side of Del Norte County, the extreme north coast count}' 
of the State. Happy Camp is in a warm belt, at an elevation 
where peaches, apricots, and nectarines do well if irrigated. The 
apricot at that latitude in ordinary situations is a failure, as it 
also is for a certain distance farther south along the coast. 

Pests and Diseases. — Certain blights are more preva- 
lent under coast conditions. The scab-blight of the apple, the 
curl leaf of the peach, and some other blights, are prevalent on 



Valley Cliuiate. i 5 

the coast and in coast valleys, on the river bottoms in the inte- 
rior, and on the mountains, and less serious, or wholly absent, in 
the hot interior valleys. Some insects prefer the coast, notably 
the black scale, which, with the black smut which attends it, is a 
grievous pest of i^rowers of olives and citrus fruits. Directly 
under coast influences, moss and lichens gather quickly and 
should be removed. Spraying with alkaline washes not only 
kills insects but cleans the bark from parasitic vegetable growth. 
Although fruit trees on the coast are not subject to sunburn, 
as in the interior, there is especial value in low heading to with- 
stand winds ; there should also be plenty of room given the trees, 
that sunshine, which is none too abundant, may have free access 
to warm the ground all around the tree. 

VALLEY CLIMATE. 

The characteristics of the interior valley climate are higher 
summer and lower winter temperatures than on the coast, the 
range of temperature being very nearly the same both north and 
south; rainfall abundant in the north and decreasing rapidly 
southward, so that as a rule the interior valleys in the south half 
of the State require irrigation; very dry air and almost constant 
sunshine, freedom from fogs and from dew in summer-time; 
winds occasionally strong, hot, and desiccating in summer and 
cold in winter. 

Local Modifications. — The term "valley climate" is broad 
and includes everything from the coast to a certain elevation on 
the slope of the mountains. Certain small valleys protected 
from cold northerly winds and from fog-bearing westerly winds 
and open to the spring sunshine, have a forcing climate which 
produces the earliest maturing fruit of the season, earlier not 
only than the coast and the mountain but also somewhat earlier 
than adjacent locations in the broad, open valley. Slight ele- 
vation, even on the sides of small valleys, frequently secures 
freedom from winter frosts and ministers to early ripening. 
Elevation above sea level on the rims of great vallej's also secures 
similar results and comprises the thermal belts in which semi- 
tropical fruits are successfully growing even as far north as 
Shasta County. On the floors of great valleys moderating in- 
fluences are secured on the lee side of wide rivers and by plant- 
ing on the river bank or on slightly elevated swells rather than 
on the level, open plain. The river bottom lands of the great 
valleys, though subject to severe frosts, are freer from the effects 
of desiccating winds than the open plains; they are, however, more 
favorable to the spread of certain blights than the plains are. 

Some of the horticultural effects of valley conditions areas 
follows: — 



1 6 Foot-hill Climntc. 

Early ripening and perfection of summer and autumn fruits, 
owing to continual sunshine and dry air; forced maturity of 
certain late fruits, as apples and pears, which destroys character 
and keeping quality; injury from sunburn and hot winds in 
summer, which seriously affect both fruit and foliage of some 
varieties; occasional injury to tender fruits (semi-tropicals) and 
to young trees of hardy fruits which have grown late in the sea- 
son, from low temperature, which sometimes is reached suddenly 
on the floor of the valleys; freedom from some blights and insects 
which are prevalent on the coast, but not from others. Many of 
these minor troubles are, however, counterbalanced by the earli- 
ness, size, beauty, and quality of certain fruits, and by the most 
rapid and successful open-air drying of fruits, owing to high 
autumn temperature, the freedom from fog, dew, and generally 
from rain during the drying season. 

FOOT-HILL CLIMATE. 

Foot-hill climate is usually considered as a modification of 
valley climate. It has been shown that up to about two thou- 
sand five hundred feet, on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, 
the seasonal temperatures are quite like those of the valley, 
but the rainfall increases about one inch for each hundred feet 
of elevation. There are, however, in the foot-hills places where 
early spring heat and freedom from frost give very early ripen- 
ing fruits, and other places at the same elevation where winter 
temperature drops below the valley minimum, and where late 
frosts also prevail. This is governed by local topography. In 
many of the small valleys among the foot-hills, bordering upon 
the great central valley of the State, and in the Coast Range as 
well, frosts are more severe than the hills adjacent. The portions 
of these highland valleys most affected are usually the very 
lowest, the moist lands of the creek-bottoms, or the wet swales, 
where there are such. Growths on the black or dark-colored soils, 
which are so situated as to be well drained and warm. 
are liable to frost, while those on the red lands and those of a chalky 
or ashen hue escape. The direct rays of the sun upon the darker 
earth hasten the spring growth beyond that on soil of lighter 
color. Hence if, other causes combining, there comes a frost, 
the earlier vegetation of the dark land suffers more than adjoin- 
ing lands of a different description. These sudden changes to 
either extreme occur on the low grounds of the foot-hills to a far 
greater extent than upon the surrounding hills and ridges, or in 
the broad valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. 

Of course the disposition of cold air to settle in low places 
and to flow down canons and creek beds while the warm air 
rises and bathes the adjacent hill-sides, has much to do with the 



Mountain Climate. ij 

frost in the hollow and the freedom from it on the hills, irre- 
spective of color or character of soil. The constant motion of 
the air on the slopes is also a preventive of frost, providing the 
general temperature is not too low. 

MOUNTAIN CLIMATE. 

Above an elevation of two thousand five hundred to three 
thousand feet, conditions gradually intrude which resemble 
those of wintry climates. The tender fruits, the apricot, peach, 
etc., become liable to winter injury and give irregular returns, or, 
as greater elevation is attained, become wholly untrustworthy. 
At four thousand to four thousand five hundred feet the hardy 
apple and pear flourish, ripening late, and winter varieties pos- 
sessing excellent keeping qualities. Here, however, winter kill- 
ing of trees begins and locations even for hardy fruits have to be 
chosen with circumspection. 

There are elevated tracts of large extent among the Sierras 
where the common wild plum, the choke-cherry, gooseberry, and 
California chestnut are produced abundantly. April frosts have 
killed the fruit of those same plums, transplanted to lower 
ground, while those left growing in their natural situation were 
quite unharmed. It has been observed that these plum trees, 
with other fruits and nuts in their original positions, invariably 
occupy the broad tops of the great ridges instead of the sides 
and bottoms of ravines or narrow, pent-up valleys. Follow 
nature in the choice of orchard sites (with due regard to a supply 
of moisture in the soil, either natural or artificial) and little 
hazard attends the culture of the hardier fruits of our latitude 
among the highlands of the State than is incident to other 
seemingly more favored localities. The beauty and quality of 
these mountain fruits are proverbial. 

On mountain fruit lands snow sometimes falls to a depth of 
four to five feet, some years almost none, and during the open 
winter fruit-trees bloom out and are caught by subsequent frosts. 
This is sometimes prevented by covering the ground around the 
trees with a coating of leaves or well-rotted manure, severa 
inches in thickness, which prevents the warming of the soil and 
thus retards the vegetative process. Where there is apt to be a 
warm spell in midwinter, the snow in early winter is packed 
down and covered as described. This prevents the snow rom 
thawing and consequently the ground is kept cold. 

A RULE OF GENERAL APPLICATION. 

What has been thus suggested of the great variation of 
temperature conditions within narrow limits should lead to the 
conclusion that not only must the kind of fruit to plant be de- 
2 



i8 



Frost and Bloom. 



termined by local observation and experience but often varieties 
of these fruits must be chosen with reference to adaptation to local 
environment. For this reason it is impossible to compile tables 
of varieties suited for wide areas — and yet it is true that some 
varieties have shown themselves hardy and satisfactory under all 
conditions. These facts will be shown by the discussion which 
will be given to each of the different fruits. 

DATES OF FROSTS AND FIRST BLOSSOMS. 

To show the distant reader the blooming seas( n of California 
fruit-trees in the valley and the limits of the frost season, the 
following table is prepared from records kept for nineteen years 
by S. H. Gerrish, of Sacramento, as published by Sergeant 
Barwick.* 

Date of First and Last Light and Killing Frosts, and Date of Blooming 
Frit it-Trees in Sacramento. 





2 


2 


!?. 


5» 


r 


2 


p 


s 


hcj 




2. 


r? 


E 


7-.? 




t-"?' 




?^?' 






« 


■5-"^ 


71 


= H 


r ■ 




?. 


I:;^! 


L_l 


\"ear. 


«■ 


" 3 


= 


(TO 3 


w' 




— 


w 3 


W ^ 




3- 


3s 


5' 


-1? 
3 ^ 


TJ 


Hq-p 
w 


era 


£ 


il 






r 3 





rf 


3 


'T 


3 


r r 


n 


1869-70 


. Nov. 8, 


69 


40 


Nov. 30, '69 
Oct. 27, '70 


31 


May 17, '70 


41 


Mar. 8, 


70 


31 


Feb, 21, 70 


1870-71 


Oct. 24, 


70 


36 


30 


Apr. 19, '71 


40 


Mar. 18, 


71 


31 


Mar. 8, '71 


1871-72 


. Oct. 25, 


71 


37 


Nov. 6, '71 


30 


Apr. 12, '72 


38 


Jan. 9. 


72 


27 


Feb. 26, '72 


1872-73 


. Oct. 22, 


72 


37 


Noy. 10, '72 


27 


Apr. 6, '73 


34 


Apr. 5, 


73 


27 


Feb. 16, '73 


1873-74 


. Oct. 16, 


73 


33 


Oct. 17, '73 


31 


Apr. 14, '74 


38 


Mar. 19, 


74 


28 


Feb, 14, '74 


1874-75 


. Oct. 29, 


74 


39 


Nov. 20, 74 


29 


Apr. 7, '75 


31 


Apr. 6, 


75 


24 


Feb. 21, '75 


1875-76 


. Oct. 28, 


75 


38 




35 


Apr. 8, '76 


38 


Jan. 16, 


76 


29 


Feb. 20, '76 


1876-77 


. Nov. 3, 


76 


36 


Nov. 13, '76 


29 


Apr. 23, '77 


42 


Feb. II, 


77 


32 


Feb. 2, '77 


1877-78 


Oct. 31, 


77 


33 


Nov. I, '87 


31 


Mar. 9, '78 


39 


Jan. 12, 


78 


30 


Feb. I, '78 


1878-79 


. Oct. 16, 


78 


37 


Oct. 28, '78 


29 


Apr. 15, '79 


41 


Feb. 6, 


79 


27 


Feb. 15, '79 


1879-80 


Oct. 8. 


79 


39 


Nov. 27, '79 


25 


Apr. 18, '80 


37 


Mar. 30, 


80 


28 


Feb. 29, '80 


1880-81 


Oct. 31, 


80 


35 


Nov. 13, '80 


28 


Mar. 18, '81 


33 


Mar. 17, 


81 


31 


Feb. 22, '8i 


1881-82 


. Oct. 4, 


81 


36 


Nov. II, '81 


30 


May 15, '82 


41 


Mar. 9, 


82 


29 


Feb. 28, '82 


1882-83 


• Oct. 5, 


82 


42 


Nov. 13, '82 


27 


May 2, '83 


41 


Feb. 18, 


83 


29 


Feb. 19, '83 


1883-84 


. Oct. 16, 


83 


39 


Nov. 4, '83 


31 


Apr. 17, '84 


43 


Feb. 18, 


84 


31 


Feb. 20, '84 


'^^■^is 


Sept. 30, 


84 


41 


Nov. 30, '84 


31 


Apr 22, '85 


41 


Jan. 26, 


85 


31 


Feb. 10, '85 


1885-86 


. Oct. II, 


85 


38 




34 


Ap . 14, "86 


39 


Jan. 10, 


86 


27 


Feb. 8, '86 


1886-87 


. Oct. 9, 


86 


40 


Nov. 4, '86 


J2 


May 10, '87 


34 


Feb. 26, 


87 


26 


Jan. 28, '87 


1887-88 


. Oct. 20, 


87 


37 


Nov. 25, '87 


28 


Apr. 26, '88 


38 


Feb. 3, 


88 


28 


J.an. 20, '88 



REST AND ACTIVITY OF FRUIT-TREES. 

Indication has already been made of regions adapted to the 
growth of early and of late fruits. There is of course difference 
in the time of rest and of returning activity in blooming. On 
the mountains under wintry conditions the trees leaf out and 
bloom late, following more or less the habit of Eastern trees. In 
the foot-hills, the valleys, and the coast, there is less difference in 

Even in regions where there 



time of rest and of leaf and bloom. 



'Report of Agricultural Society 1887, p. 284. 



Unseasonable Heat. 



19 



may be a month's difference in ripeninj:^ of fruit, as, for example, 
in the Vacaville district, fifty miles inland, and in Berkeley, two 
miles from the bay shore, trees bloom almost at the same date. 
The difference in ripening is due to the higher temperature and 
fuller sunshine of the interior situation, which have a forcing 
effect, while the low temperature and dull skies of the spring- 
time on the coast retard maturity. 

The rest of the tree, in all save the mountain district, is not 
dependent upon the touch of frost. It comes rather from weari- 
ness and thirst than from cold. The immense weight of fruit, 
and the vigorous growth of wood, lead the tree to call for rest, 
and the exhaustion of the moisture from the soil by the draught 
of the roots to compass this growth, are the chief causes which 
bring the sere and yellow leaf in California. It is not frost, for 
the petunias may be blooming and the tomato vines still green 
in the fields. But the time has come for a rest. The trees sleep; 
but it is merely as a nap at midday; the early rains wake them 
soon. The roots are active first, then the buds swell, and the 
blossoms burst forth — sometimes as early as January — the al- 
mond first heralding the advent of California spring-time. 

Sometimes this season of rest is too short for the good of 
the tree or vine. The early rains, when followed by a spring- 
like temperature, as sometimes happens, induce activity in the 
top as well as the root, and the tree is not in condition to with- 
stand cold weather, which may follow. It is probable that such 
stimulated activity, suddenly checked, is responsible for more 
ills to tree and vine than are usually attributed to it. 



CHAPTER II. 

WHY THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE SPECIALLY FAVORS 
THE GROWTH OF FRUIT. 

The study of climate from a horticultural point of view has 
engaged the attention of some of the best observers and closest 
thinkers, and yet the work is far from finished ; in fact, it seems 
now quite certain that very important agencies have been until 
recently overlooked, or too little prized. Such being the fact, 
the best course to pursue will be to measure the climate of Cali- 
fornia both by old and new standards, and if favorable results 
are shown by both, the adjustment of the relations between the 
two standards may be left for progress in climatology to accom- 
plish. 

It was pointed out by the earliest students of meteorology, 
as related to horticulture, that perfect development of fruits de- 
pends upon certain atmospheric conditions, which are included 
in the term climate: first, temperature; second, light; third, 
humidity or atmospheric moisture, — considered wholly apart 
from soil moisture. It was also shown that temperature and 
humidity should be equable, or as free as possible from excessive 
extremes or rapid changes. 

Obviously, the chief characteristics of the California climate 
are: first, freedom from extremes of low temperature; second, an 
abundance of sunshine; and third, an atmosphere with a low per- 
centage of humidity. It will be interesting to introduce enough 
statistics to demonstrate these claims, and to cite reasons why 
these conditions are of special value to the fruit grower. 

THE OFFICE OF HEAT IN FRUIT PRODUCTION. 

Temperature conditions may preclude the success of a fruit 
tree either by destroying it outright, by dwarfing it, or by pre- 
venting it from ripening its fruit. Extremes of temperature ac- 
complish the death of plants, and insufficient or excessive mean 
temperatures may prevent fruition without killing the plant. 
The first quality of the California climate to arrest the attention 
of fruit growers in the States east of the Rocky Mountains is the 
freedom from the effects of extremely low winter temperatures, 
to which is due the deplorable failure, in the Eastern and Western 
States, of many of the fruit varieties from t^ie west of Europe, 
and to escape which such zealous effort is now being put forth to 
secure hardy varieties of native and foreign origin. 

(20) 



No Danger of Winter Killing. 



21 



How slight is the injury from low temperatures in all parts 
of the State where fruit is largely grown, is shown by the fact 
that the lowest temperature known since American occupation, 
which occurred in January, 1888, did not, as a rule, injure mature 
wood of the orange and olive, though the more tender lemon and 
lime were often seriously injured, and in some places killed. 
Just what the extreme low temperature was at different points 
may be seen from the following compilation, taking points ap- 
proximately at the same latitude on the coast, in the interior 
valleys, and on the foot-hills. 

Lowest Temperature at Several California Points. 



Coast and Coast Valleys. 



§0 




Eureka 

Cape Mendocino. 



Napa 

San Francisco 
San Jose .... 

Gilroy 

San Miguel. . . 
Los Angeles . . 
San Diego.. . . 



20 Redding ... 

28 Red Bluff. . 

. . Oioville . . . 

20 Nlaiysville. . 

28 Sacramento 

22 Merced . . 

20 Fresno 

17 Tulare City 

28 Riverside . . 

32 Poway . . . . 



Foot-hills. 



Colfax. . 
Auburn . 



16 
13 



Lewis Valley. 
Fall Brook . . 



22 
27 



These records will show anyone familiar with winter kill- 
ing of the leading orchard fruits, that such disasters arc not to be 
feared in the chief fruit regions of California. Local tempera- 
ture is largely controlled by local conditions, as has been al- 
ready pointed out, and in the districts named in the table 
there are special locations where the lowe t temperature may 
have differed a few degrees from the figures given. 

NECESSITY OF ADEQUATE SUMMER HEAT. 

Passing beyond the freedom from winter killing, it may be 
remarked that the influence of certain degrees of heat upon the 
growth of the plant and the perfection of its fruit, has been the 
subject of much close observation. Boussingault conducted care- 
ful experiments, and showed that a temperature above a certain 
minimum of heat is found necessary for germination, another for 
chemical modification, and a third for flowering, a fourth for the 
ripening of seeds, a fifth for the elaboration of the saccharine 
juices, and a sixth for the development of aroma or boquet. 

Originally the mean annual temperature was alone observed, 
and the polar limits of plants, it was presumed, could be thereby 



22 



Office of Heat in Fruit Prodtictio7i. 



determined. More recently it was taught that the mean tem- 
perature of seasons is of more importance than that of the year, 
and it is beHeved that to the rehitive distribution of heat over 
the seasons rather than to the absolute amount received during 
the year, that we are to attribute the fitness or unfitness of a re- 
gion for the growth of certain kinds of vegetation. 

It is held in Europe that the mean heat of the cycle of 
vegetation of the vine must be at least 59° Fahr., and that of 
the summer from 65° to 66*^ Fahr. It is stated to be impossi- 
ble, for instance, to cultivate the vine upon the temperate table- 
lands of South America, where they enjoy a mean temperature 
of 62.6° to 66.2° Fahr., because these climates are characterized 
by a constancy of temperature, never rising to the higher heats 
necessary to the process of sugar forming, and the vine grows, 
flourishes, but the grapes never become thoroughly ripe. Bous- 
singault shows that in addition to a summer and autumn suffi- 
ciently hot, it is indispensable that at a given period — that which 
follows the appearance of the seeds — there should be a month the 
mean temperature of which does not fall below 66.2° Fahr. As 
will appear presently, this temperature test should not be taken 
alone, but it will serve as a standard to show one feature of the 
horticultural adaptation of the California climate. Boussingault 
claims the need of 66.2° Fahr. for a single month. To be sure 
to include this, the following table gives the average summer 
temperature at the leading fruit-growing centers named: — 

Average Summer Temperature at Various California Points. 



Coast and Coast 
Valleys. 


Deg. 

Fahr. 


Interior Valleys. 


Deg. 
Fahr. 


Foot-hills. 


Elevation. 


Deg. 
Fahr. 


Napa 


69.6 


Redding 

Oroville 

Marysville .... 
.Sacramento. . . . 

Merced 

Fresno 

Tulare 

Riverside 


81 
79 
78 
71 .7 

78.4 
84.1 

83-4 

73-7 


Auburn 


1.363 

2,421 

2,500 

1,290 

700 


74.3 
76 

85 

82 8 






Livermore 

San Jose 


70.8 

66.2 

67.1 

I 67.7 

I 67.8 

66.8 


Georgetown . 


Ilollister 

Santa Harbara . . 


Fall Brook 


68.2 


Los Angeles . . . 








San Diego 









These points are selected because the European varieties of 
the grape reach perfection in the vicinity. Boussingault's meas- 
ure of fitness would condemn points directly on the coast where 
the summer temperature is approximately that of San Francisco 
(58.5°). and it has been found by experience that such a sum- 
mer temperature really does not favor the ripening of the grape. 
The excess of heat above that required, as is found at all the in- 
terior points mentioned in the table, results in a very high sugar 
percentage in the grapes, and contributes to the ripening of a 
second and third crop, as will be noted presently. 



Importance of Direct Sunlight. 23 

DIRECT SUNLIGHT ALSO A REQUISITE. 

Count de Gasparin, who is called illustrious, and the founder 
of agricultural meteorology, was first to point out that not alone 
sufficient heat but abundance of continuous sunshine was a 
requisite ot perfection in fruit growth and ripening, and on his 
authority we base the claim of exceptional value to the fruit 
grower in the months of cloudless skies which are characteristic 
of the California summer. 

"The solar rays," says Gasparin, "do not only produce heat 
but bring us light, and the effects of the heat and light rays differ 
in a very pronounced manner. Without light there is no fructifi- 
cation ; it is not necessary that the want of light should be com- 
plete that there should be a failure of fruits. In fact, diffused 
light alone does not sufifice for the greater number of plants ; 
cultivated plants will not ripen their seed without the direct rays 
of the sun, and the longer they are deprived of it the smaller the 
quantity which they will mature." * 

Again, referring to the grape, for in connection with the 
growth of this fruit the most careful researches have been made, 
Humboldt wrote: "If to give a potable wine the vine shuns the 
islands and nearly all sea-coasts, even those of the West, the 
cause is not only in the moderate heat of summer upon the sea- 
shore, but it exists more in the difference which there is between 
direct and diffused light ; between a clear sky and one veiled 
with clouds. "-f" 

These suggestions of the eminent observers of the last gen- 
eration have led to more careful observation of sunlight records 
as well as temperature records. Marie Davy, who leads in these 
observations in France, shows that the wine of the year 1875 
was not of first quality, although the heat was great, and attrib- 
utes the poor quality to the fact that the light record was small 
The records thus compare: — 

1873. 1874. 1875. 

Meat 2.146 2.169 2 220 

Light ....5.466 5.413 4-995 

In 1875 the heat record indicated good quality, the light 
record poor: the wine was poor. Hence concludes Davy: 
*' There can be no doubt of the preponderating influence of light 
on the fructification of the vine, notwithstanding the high tem- 
perature that this plant requires is indispensable.";): 

The results attained in France in observing the influence of 



"Cours d'AgricuIture, t. II, p. 96. 

tCosmos t. I, p. 349. • T) 

tMeteoroIogieet physique agricoles (Journal d'Agric. Pratique 1S75), quoted in Report U. S. 
Signal Office 1881, p. 1196. 



24 



Low Average of Cloudiness. 



direct sunlight upon vegetation induced the United States Sig- 
nal Service to undertake actino-metric observations, and it was 
decided to establish stations for such observations in California. 
There seems to have been trouble in securing proper instru- 
ments for measuring light-force, and recent report'^ of the Signal 
Service do not indicate that the work was ever undertaken in 
the field. Fortunately, however, there is another method of 
reaching conclusive results, and that is in presenting the record 
of clear and cloudy days. 

Notice first the conclusions of another eminent French phys- 
icist and botanist, De Candolle, as to meteorological conditions 
favoring the perfect growth and fruitage of the European grape 
species {vinifera). He showed that the vegetation of the vine 
begins at 50° Fahr., and matures its fruit in those localities 
which exhibit the sum of 14,500 degrees of heat from the day 
when growth commences with the mean of 50° in the shade to 
that on which this mean ceases, providing the number of rainy 
days does not exceed tivelve days in each month. Here appears 
the importance of our abundance of bright light, as well as 
heat, because De Candolle found it truer to state the limit of 
rainy, that is dark, days, rather than the amount of rainfall. 
The mean condition of the sky as more or less cloudy is a very 
important circumstance, because, as the number of rainy days 
increases, not only is the heat decreased but the chemical effect 
of the direct rays of the sun is impaired. How California stands 
in respect to this dictum of De Candolle concerning the number 
of rainy or cloudy days admissible during the growing and ripen- 
ing season of the vine, can be seen from the following statement 
of the rainy and cloudy days at Sacramento during the spring 
and summer months, for a period of years: — 

Number of Rainy and Cloudy Days at Sacramento for a 
Series of Years. 





Spring 


Months. 


Summer 


Months 


Fall Months. 


Totals. 


Monthly 




Rainy. 


Cloudy. 


Rainy. 


Cloudy. 


Rainy. 
7 


Cloudy. 
4 


Average. 


1878.. 


21 


19 


None. 


None. 


51 


5-6 


1879- 


32 


19 


3 


None. 


13 


12 


79 


8.8 


1880.. 


27 


19 


2 


None. 


2 


6 


56 


6.2 


I88I.. 


16 


10 


3 


5 


12 


3 


49 


5-4 


1882. . 


25 


16 




I 


16 


8 


68 


7-5 


1883.. 


24 


12 


None. 


None. 


14 


6 


56 


6.2 


1884.. 


27 


23 


8 


6 


9 


3 


76 


S.5 


1885.. 


II 


6 


3 


I 


- 25 


17 


63 


7.0 


1886.. 


26 


12 


.None. 


None. 


7 


I 


46 


5-1 


1887.. 


17 


6 


I 


None. 


7 


3 


34 


3 8 


1888.. 


19 
Monthly 


10 
average f 


4 
Dr eleven 


4 
years .... 


9 


9 


55 


6.1 








6.4 



Atmospheric Humidity. 



25 



Thus it appears by taking not only all days on which rain 
fell, but all cloudy days besides, including also the months of 
March and November, which give the greatest numbers of these 
days, and yet at a time when they can do the least harm, we 
find that California has hardly more than half the number of 
dark day^ which De Candolle considers admissible for the proper 
ripening of the vinifera species. This excess of advantage, as it 
may be termed, in connection with the high and protracted heat 
already mentioned, takes practical form in the successful ripen- 
ing of a second and sometimes a third crop of these grapes in a 
season, which, with table and raisin grapes, at least are of consid- 
erable importance and value. Another indication of excess 
of advantage in the interior valley is found in the development 
of high sugar contents ; some grapes which yield a good claret 
wine nearer the coast develop too much alcohol when grown in 
the interior. 

The advantage of California over Eastern and Southern fruit 
regions in the abundance of clear sunshine is shown by the rec- 
ords of the United States Signal Service in the following table. 
Cloudiness is rated from o to 10, three observations daily, and 
the figures in the table are the averages from these daily observa- 
tions for a series of years : — 

Average Cloudiness in California and in the Eastern Fruit Regions. 
Also Average Total Number of Clear Days Annually. 



California. 


Average 
Cloudiness. 


Clear 
Days. 


Eastern and Southern 
States. 


Average ] Clear 
Cloudiness Days. 


San Francisco 


4.1 

3-4 

4.2 
2.8 

2-5 
No record. 
No record. 


147 
171 
122 

228 
240 
264 
248 


New York 


"?. I 


100 


Los Angeles 

San Diego 


Philadelphia 


5 
5 
6 

5 
5 
4 
4 
4 




9 
7 
6 

4 
6 

8 


106 


Baltimore 

Rochester, N. Y 

Cleveland, Ohio 

Grand Maven, Mich. . . 

Jacksonville, Fla 

Augusta. Ga 

New Orleans. . 


109 

71 

84 

92 

124 

127 

112 


Red Bluff 


Sacramento 

Oroville 


Nicolaus 























It is noticeable that at the California coast points the aver- 
age cloudiness is almost twice that of the interior valleys, while 
at the East the interior fruit regions of Western New York, Ohio, 
and Michigan, have a greater average cloudiness than the Hud- 
son River, New Jersey, and Delaware regions near the Atlantic 
seaboard. The average cloudiness in the Eastern fruit regions 
is rather more than twice as great as in the regions of California 
where most fruit is grown. 

RELATION OF ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY TO THE GRO^VTH OF 

FRUIT. 

There is another important condition of the climate of C3I'- 



26 Value of Dry Air. 

fornia which is intimately related to those which have been con- 
sidered, and which is to be credited with no small influence in 
the perfection of our fruits, and that is the low percentage of 
humidity which our atmosphere contains. In California the per- 
centage of humidity is high n the winter and low in the sum- 
mer; in the East the condition is just reversed. For this reason 
summer heat is far more oppressive in the East than in Califor- 
nia, and for the same reason certain serious fungoid diseases 
which prevail at the East, though found here in less injurious de- 
gree directly on the coast, are wholly unknown in the interior, 
where the air is drier. The dry air also favors the access and 
action of light and heat, for Tyndall says that a sheet of vapor 
acts as a screen to the earth, being in a great measure impervious 
to heat. 

It is not necessary then that there should be clouds to lessen 
the chemical effects of sun heat in fruit ripening. Not only do 
clouds intercept sunshine, but watery vapor in the air — when to 
the eye the sun is bright as ever — can absorb a large quantity of 
the effective sun rays, and so retard fruit ripening. Hence an 
apparently sunny country which has much invisible watery va- 
por in the air, may prove defective in fruit-ripening qualities. 

It is true that air free from humidity allows rapid escape of 
heat by radiation as well as free access of it, and in dry air frost 
is more severe, but at the time of the greatest fruit growth, from 
June to October, radiation down to a frost point is prevented by 
other natural agencies. In the early spring and late autumn 
the humidity percentage rises again and checks radiation just at 
the time of the year when it is most desirable to have it checked. 

Returning once more to the studies of the growth and fruit- 
age of the grape, we find data for insisting strongly upon the 
value of our dry summer air to the fruit grower. De Candolle 
concluded that so far as the temperature and sunlight was con- 
cerned, the vinifera might succeed in the Mississippi Valley, so 
their failure could not be traced to the causes which placed lim- 
itations upon the spread of the species in Europe. Other causes 
were sought for, and according to Lippincott* it is to excessive 
atmospheric humidity, alternating with aridity, and both together 
combined with high temperature, that must be ascribed the fail- 
ure of the European grape-vine. Mr. Lippincott gives an item 
of his own experience in New Jersey which illustrates his claim: 

The first half of September, 1865, appeared to be very unpropitious for the 
grape, mildew and rot having done their worst with the native vines, and the foreign 
under glass alone remained on which their destructive agency could work. From 
the first to the fifteenth the absolute and relative humidity were excessive, and the 

*Report Department of Agriculture 1863, p. 488. 



California and Eastern Points Compared. 



fourteenth was among; the most oppressive ever remembered and recorded by the 
writer, frequently arising to saturation. Thougli the heat was not in excess, the 
abundant moisture rendered some of the above days painful to endure, the feeling 
being, at times, that of immersion in a steam hath. Our black Hamburg grapes, 
which had not already ripened under glass, were dissolved in a mass of rottenness 
in consequence of suffocation in this vapor-laden atmosphere. ~ 

Much more could be said, but space will not allow a full dis- 
cussion of the subject. The following table, compiled from the 
records of the United States Signal Service office,* shows the pre- 
vailing relati\ e humidity in the East and South and in Califor- 
nia. The figures are means for five years, except at Fresno, Cal- 
ifornia, where the office has been established but one year : — 

Mean Monthly Relative Humidity — April to December, and Annual. 



Stations. 



> 

-1 








> 

c 
era 


fC 

■a 






< 



n 


Mean 
Annual 










UI 




: 


: 




(12M0S 


68.5 


70.571.7 


7.3-2 


75-7i77-477-i 


76-5 


76.0 


73-4 


68.2 74. 072.8170. 8i73.6|72. 7 72.3169 


774-9 


72.3 


67. 6,67.6167. 9168. 5 


68.4I69.873.375 


580.6 


72.6 


68.0 


68.5I73-5I7S-I 


77. 2175. 9176. 4|77 


I 80.9 


75-8 


67.7 


73.075.269.9 


69.6:68.1 76.0 72 


676.7 


73-0 


71.6 


71.472.472-2 


71.9I72.7 


74-370 


«l73-i 


71.9 


77-9 


76.474.173.8 

1 


73-3|74.i 

1 


75-977.3I79-6 


77.0 


72.7 


71.370.4 


70.8 


70.6 


68.9 


67. 961. 467. 1 


68.2 


S6.6 


S7-9 


51.8 


4S..S 


38.0 


49-1 


50.364.878.2 


60.2 


70.7 


64.1 


61.6 


56.8 


58-357-9 


66.669.483.4 


67.4 


65.6 


52.4 


42.2 


34.0 


35-345-3 


55.362.1 77.6 


55-8 



Jacksonville, Fla... 

Philadelphia, Pa 

Rochester, N. Y. . . . 
Grand Haven, Mich 

St. Louis, Mo 

New Orleans, La. . . 
Galveston, Texas. . . 

Los Angeles, Cal . . . 

Fresno, Cal . 

Sacramento, Cal. . . . 
Red Bluff; Cal 



THE THREE POINTS COMBINED. 

The three great advantages of the California climate, — abun- 
dant heat, continuous sunshine, and dry air, — taken in connection 
with the fitness of the soil and the great length of the growing 
season, insure the characteristic excellence of California fruit, 
and the early maturity, great growth, and abundant fruitage of 
our trees and vines. Heat, sunshine, dry air, and a rainless sum- 
mer also minister directly to the curing of fruits in the open air. 
All things considered, it is doubtful whether any area of the world 
excels California in possession of natural adaptation to fruit pro- 
duction and preservation. 

The characteristics of the California climate which have 
been especially pointed out in this sketch are not propitious to 



*For this and much other data used in this discussion I am indebted to Lieut. J. E. Ma.\field, offi- 
cer in charge U. S. Signal Service Office, San Francisco. 



28 Importance of Moderation. 

fruit culture when they exist to excessive decree, as is the case 
in the continental climate of Colorado, for example. A recent 
description of the climate of that State as related to tree 
growth* shows that owing to local conditions of altitude, dis- 
tance from the sea, and exposure to the sweep of Arctic winds, 
sudden and great weather changes occur, which are serious in 
their effects. Excessively low percentage of atmospheric hu- 
midity, in connection with dessicating wind, often produces 
greater evaporation from the leaves than the roots can supply. 
Excessively dry air admits a parching sun heat at one time, and 
at another facilitates radiation of heat, until the rapid decline in 
temperature makes killing frosts frequent. These and other ill 
effects are due to the constant tendency to excess in the Colorado 
climate. It is evident that California has these agencies con- 
stantly held in check by her insular situation and protecting en- 
vironment, and owes her wonderful adaptation to growth of tree 
and perfection of fruit not more to the possession of certain con- 
ditions than to the fact of their existence in moderation. 



*"The Climate of Colorado and Its Effects on Trees," by George H. Parsons, in Bulletin No. 
forestry Division, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1888. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE FRUIT SOILS OF CALIFORNIA 

The favoring characteristics of the California climates, 
which have been described, find their fitting complement in the 
adaptation of the California soils to the perfect development of 
fruit-bearing tree and vine. In their wonderful variety and con- 
sequent great range of special adaptations within narrow limits 
of area, our soils also resemble our climates. As a man may 
sometimes find within the boundaries of an ordinary-sized farm 
such a difference of atmospheric conditions that the same fruit 
will thrive in one spot and not in another, so he may find differ- 
ences in soil which will tend to produce the same results. For 
this reason the precise spot in which to plant any given fruit 
must be chosen with regard to both soil and exposure. In the 
chapters devoted to the several fruits, there will be an attempt 
made to describe the soil requirements of each, so that the inex- 
perienced planter may not err seriously in choosing the location 
for each kind of fruit he desires to grow. While this is true, it 
will also appear in these special chapters that the choice of roots 
upon which to bud or graft, gives the planter a certain latitude 
and independence. This is of greatest value in the planting of 
home orchards, or orchards for local markets, in regions where 
the soil is not what is usually preferred for fruit production. With 
proper choice of stocks and wisdom and diligence in cultivation, 
one need hardly despair of growing good fruit on any soil which 
will support any laudable plant growth. And yet in com- 
mercial orcharding, the secret of which is producing most 
abundantly and cheaply, too great attention cannot be paid to 
choice of specially adapted soils. 

The limits of this work will not admit the effort to describe 
California soils either very definitely nor comprehensively, nor 
does the existing state of knowledge on the subject allow very 
accurate generalization. Though much has been learned practi- 
cally, as it is hoped this book will show, of the requirements of 
different fruits and the way they are locally ministered to, no 
complete and systematic examination of California soils has yet 
been made. The importance of such a survey has been for 
years urged by E. W. Hilgard, Professor of Agriculture and Di- 

(29) 



30 Origin of California Soils. 

rector of the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the University 
of California, and in anticipation of such a survey, and as a con- 
tribution to it, he has given all the time he could spare from 
many other and pressing duties, to the examination, and, when 
needed, the analysis, of representative soil specimens, and to prac- 
tical expositions of their nature, adaptations, and requirements in 
the event of exhaustion from too long cropping. The public is 
therefore indebted to Professor Hilgard for whatever accurate 
knowledge exists on the subject. This information must be 
sought in a number of publications,* and no condensed outline 
of the work in its present state is available. It is the purpose 
of the writer to undertake a compilation, from these sources, of 
information which especially relates to the fruit soils of Califor- 
nia, now known and used as such. The plan will be to collate 
the descriptions of the soils and their composition with the 
practical deductions therefrom, rather than the detailed analyses, 
for which the reader must be referred to the original source. 
The districting of the State for purposes of description is that 
devised by Professor Hilgard. 

SOURCES OF CALIFORNIA SOILS. 

As the rock is parent of the soil, a glance at the main 
geological features of the State is pertinent. Broadly speaking, 
the coast ranges of California consist of tertiary and cretaceous 
strata (mostly sandstones and calcareous clay shales), almost 
everywhere greatly disturbed, folded, frequently highly meta- 
morphosed and traversed by dikes of eruptive rocks. In the 
portion north of San Francisco these are frequently covered by 
tufaceous and scoriaceous or crystalline lava flows emanating 
from volcanic vents now extinct. 

In contrast to the Coast Range, the Sierra Nevada has in 
general a central axis of granitic or other rocks (occasionally 
traversed by volcanic vents) on the flanks of which lie more or 
less crystalline and metamorphic slates or schists of palaeozoic, 
triassic and Jurassic age, with edges turned up at a high angle 
or sometimes vertical. These constitute the proverbial " bed- 
rock " of the California miner. Abutting against this there He 
on the eastern border of the great valley strata of marine deposits, 
mostly of tertiary, but northward of Folsom, Sacramento County, 
also of the cretaceous age, which are but slightly disturbed, and 
into which the rivers flowing from the canyons of the Sierra have 

♦Reports of the College of Agriculture, University of California, 1877 to 1887; report of Arid 
Lands Commission, 1882, United States Department of Agriculture; special part on California in 
'Cotton Report of Tenth Census," republished as "Agricultural Features of California," by Dewey 
& Co., publishers Pacific Rural Press. 



The Great Interior Valley. 3 i 

cut their immediate valleys, flanked by bluffs from forty to 
seventy feet high. From Tuolumne County northward, on the 
lower foot-hills, appear immense gravel beds, mostly gold- 
bearing, and these are partly overlaid by eruptive or volcanic out- 
flows and tufaceous rocks, also accounted as belonging to the 
tertiary age. In the northern portion of the Sierra region the 
eruptive rocks become more and more prominent, covering an 
enormous area. 

Apart from the cretaceous and tertiary beds on the borders 
of the great valley, there are, within the valley, terraces and 
bench-marks showing the existence, in quaternary times, of a 
great fresh-water lake. Borings in the interior valley disclose 
materials varying from fine silts to sands and gravels, evidently 
deposited in the ancient lake. The latest surface deposits are, 
in the San Joaquin Valley, mostly sandy; in the Sacramento 
Valley, more commonly clayey (adobe), corresponding to the com- 
position of the Coast Ranges themselves, which in their interior 
southern portion show sandy materials more prevalently, while 
in the middle division clay shales are predominant and form 
correspondingly heavy soils.* 

SOILS OF THE GREAT VALLEY. 

The great valley of California, embracing a large propor- 
tion one- third) of the agricultural lands of the State, is included 
between the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada on the east and the 
Coast Range on the west, the general direction of its axis being 
nearly northwest and southeast. Its length from the Tejon 
Mountains, on the south, to Red Bluff, on the north, where the 
valley proper terminates, is about four hundred miles, while its 
width varies from over sixty to somewhat less than forty miles. 
Its total area is about seventeen thousand two hundred square 
miles. 

This great valley with its tributary small valleys and the 
adjacent foot-hills on its eastern rim, which would of course 
materially increase the area as given above, contains about one- 
half of all the fruit-trees and nearly one-third of all the grape- 
vines in the State. These trees and vines are closely grouped 
in small areas where the soil is known or imagineci to especially 
favor their growth, or where irrigation facilities have already been 
secured. Outside of these areas the great plains are still vast 
stretches of grain or pasture land and one can ride for hours 
without catching sight of orchard or vineyard. 

In mentioning the fruit soils of the great valley special 



'"Physical and Agricultural Features of California," p. 8. 



32 



Sacramento Valley Soils. 



reference will be made, not to the plains in general but to the 
districts where horticulture has gained a foothold. 

FRUIT SOILS OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 
Adobe Soils. — Thus far a very small area of the adobe* 
soils of the valley have been employed in horticulture, but results 
already attained indicate future extension in that direction. 
There is a great difference in the character of what is known as 
adobe in different localities. Its color varies, as the popular 
terms "Black Waxy," "Black," "Brown" and "Gray" adobe in- 
dicate. Its physical condition and chemical composition also 
vary greatly. The black adobe of the east side of the Sacra- 
mento Valley is easily tilled as compared with the gray adobe on 
the west side, which is very refractory and often largely impreg- 
nated with alkali. 

To render soil of adobe character useful for fruit growing 
this tendency to dry out and crack, thus allowing evaporation 
from below as well as from the surface, must be overcome. The 
discussion of this point belongs to the chapter on "Cultivation." 
Adobe soils are as a rule rich and durable and therefore 
promise long fruitfulness to trees and vines with roots adapted 
to heavy soils. They are sometimes, though not often, deficient 
in lime; and the addition of lime as a top-dressing, where its cost 
will warrant the outlay, not only makes the soil more easy of 
culture but unlocks and makes available new stores of plant food. 
Adobe is also improved physically by green manuring, addition 
of sand, sifted coal ashes or other coarse materials, and where the 
rainfall is abundant to facilitate decay, even sawdust can be 
incorporated with ihe soil with beneficial results. On small 
areas of fruit where mulching is practicable very gratifying re- 
sults have been attained by this method of retaining moisture. 

Loam Soils. — As stated by Professor Hilgard, the preva- 
lent soils of the Sacramento Valley are loams. These too vary 
greatly in composition and in characteristics. Away from the 
water courses, the higher lands of the valley are largely red or 
yellow loams, sometimes clayey and difficult of cultivation 
unless taken just in the right condition; sometimes gravelly and 
apt to dry out unless the natural water supply is supplemented 
by irrigation; sometimes a free-working, fairly retentive, light 
loam, very satisfactory for some kinds of fruit. So far, the 
acreage of fruit on these upland loams, except on occasional 
areas of the finest quality, is not large, but their future employ- 
ment promises to be considerable. A conspicuous example of 

•--iJobe IS ihe Spani.ih tsrm for a heavy clay soil. 



Frjiit on Bed-rock Lands. 



33 



the employment of the best upland loams for fruit is found in 
Sacramento and Calaveras Counties, where, as described by 
Professor Hilgard, "southward of the American River and ex- 
tending across Cosumnes and Mokelumne to the Calaveras, ex- 
tends a plain broken only by occasional swales of reddish soil 
running in from the foot-hills. This is one of the most pro- 
ductive and thickly settled portions of the entire valley, the soil 
being mostly a dun-colored loam, varying in lightness, but 
throughout easily tilled." 

In the upper part of the valley, on the east side and border- 
ing on the foot-hills, there are some bodies of close-textured, 
light yellow loam, which, in contrast to the deeper-tinted soils 
of the adjacent foot-hills, are very deficient in plant food and 
speedily become unprofitable as grain land. Their only chance 
for durability is in the growth of fruit, because of the deeper 
rooting of trees and vines, but even such growths will soon need 
fertilizers. 

Bed-rock Lands. — On some of the border lands on the 
east side of the valley there is a very interesting soil condition, 
which Professor Hilgard describes as follows: — 

In the rolling border-lands of the valley the soil, or rather subsoil, is usually o' 
sufficient depth and penetrability for all purposes; but to this rule there are exceptions, 
in the local occurrence of tracts ranging from a few acres upwards, where an ap- 
parently impenetrable material underlies, at depths varying from one to several feet; 
and although this material is altogether different from the slates underlying the foot- 
hill lands, the fact that it produces the same effect on the welfare of fruit trees has 
caused the local name of "bed-rock lands" to be given to such tracts. 

In the neighborhood of Sacramento much use has been 
made of this land for trees and vines, the land being prepared by 
c^ij^gi^g or blasting through the bed-rock as described in a 
subsequent chapter. An examination of this soil from the re- 
gion named, showed the surface of pale orange loam underlaid 
by brownish adobe, and this by a brown or whitish hardpan, 
under which is coarse sand of unknown depth. 

Of these Professor Hilgard says: — 

Analysis of the three upper layers shows that, notwithstanding the great dilTer* 
ences in the appearence of the three materials, they do not differ widely in most 
points of their composition. The prominent points of difference are that the surface 
soil contains about ten per cent more- of inert matter (fine sand) than the other 
two, but much less iron, and only a very minute amount of phosphoric acid. The 
latter, however, increases very rapidly downward, the adobe containing more than 
twice as much as the top soil, and the "bed rock" again nearly twice as much as the 
adobe, or four times as much as the surface soil. The deticiency of the phosphoric 
acid in the soil is measurably offset by the fact that nearly all of it (.016 out of .019) 
is in an available condition, and hence the deficiency has not l-een much felt in th e 
past; yet it does seem quite important that the relatively large supply in the lower 
depths .should, if possible, be rendered accessible to the roots of trees. The supply 
of lime is nearly the same in all, and probably adequate, although more would be 
desirable in the stiff adobe. 



24 RicJi, Deep Sediments. 

It has been found by experience that shattering this hard- 
pan has not only reheved the roots from the effects of stagnant 
water but has enabled them to penetrate strata containing much 
plant food. This method of planting will make a large area of 
shallow soil available for fruit, and it is applicable not alone to 
the lands in question but to all soils underlaid by a water-tight 
layer or hardpan. 

Sedimentary or Silty Soils.— These soils have been 
considered from the earliest plantings by Americans, as par ex- 
cellence the fruit soils of the great valley. They occur on the 
sides of existing streams, and extend back indefinite distances, 
until they merge into the valley loams, or adobes. These de- 
posits are considerably higher than the present beds of the 
streams, and are sometimes described as " next to river bottom." 
They consist of fine alluvium, with seldom any admixture of 
coarse materials. These river soils are usually very deep, and 
they are naturally well drained. Of the chemical composition 
of these soils Professor Hilgard remarks : — 

A common characteristic is an adequate, and, Jin some cases, generous supply of 
lime, which insures the availability of the plant food they contain, greatly enhances 
their power of resisting drought, and of forming and retaining humus, and renders 
them easily tillable, notwithstanding the great amount of clay they contain. The 
amount of potash is large; in some cases very large. In none of these soils, however, 
is the supply of phosphates large, and in some cases but for the liberal amount of 
lime would be considered deficient. Whenever their productiveness declines phos- 
phate fertilizers will evidently be first needed. 

On the west side of the Sacramento River, and thence to 
the foot-hills of the Coast Range, there are areas of sedimentary 
soil of somewhat different origin and character. The rich allu- 
vial plains of Yolo and Solano Counties possess soils of pre-emi- 
nent fertility, being a mixture of the finest natural sediments of 
the Sacramento River with those carried by streams heading in 
the volcanic region of the Coast Range. West of these are the 
sediments brought down by these streams without admixture of 
the Sacramento River sediment. These deposits cross the west 
side of the valley in somewhat irregular courses; they are of 
greater or less width according to the drainage area whence they 
have come. They vary also in depth, and taper down on either 
side to the level of the red loam or adobe upon which they have 
been deposited. Such strips are first chosen by the fruit plant- 
ers of the district in which they occur. The success of these or- 
chards has led later planters to venture upon the coarser loams 
or the finer-textured adobes which border the sedimentary 
streaks, and the success attained by good cultivation, and under- 
drainage when necessary, gives abundant data for the conclusion 



The Vacaville District. 



35 



that wise choice of roots and skillful management of the soil 
renders far more of the valley available for fruit growing than 
was thought possible a few years ago. 

Still farther west of the soils alluded to are the small valleys 
of the east side of the Coast Range, which open into the Sacra- 
mento Valley. Several of these valleys constitute what has be- 
come famous as the Vacaville fruit district. In these small val- 
leys the soil of the valley proper is an alluvial wash from the 
bordering hills, and in some places it reaches a depth of thirty 
feet or more without notable change in character. Usually the 
greater depth occurs near the head of the valley, and thence the 
deposit becomes shallower until the small valley debouches upon 
the plain of the Sacramento Valley with its prevailing loams 
and adobes. Even in these small valleys, however, there occur 
here and there spots of very different character, and places where 
the underlying strata approach the surface. Professor Hilgard 
describes the Vaca Valley soils as rich in potash and lime, and 
having a good supply of humus. They are less well supplied 
with phosphoric acid. In both chemical and physical condition 
(which insures ease of tillage) the Vaca Valley soils resemble 
the sedimentary soils of the main valley already described. 

River Bottom Soils. — Below the " river bank " sediment- 
ary soils, which is another name for the soils previously consid- 
ered, lies the rich river bottom, adjacent to the beds of the main 
rivers and sloughs of the valley. It is usually a dark, rich, and 
moist soil, easily tilled and not subject to baking and cracking. 
It is largely used for the growth of vegetables and alfalfa, but 
considerable areas are now being planted with fruit-trees, espe- 
cially with pears, which do not suffer from submergence of their 
roots for considerable time. This is shown by the thrift and 
productiveness of some very old trees which now stand outside 
the levees. A great area of this soil has been destroyed by de- 
bris from hydraulic mining, which is now illegal. 

SOILS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. 

Professor Hilgard makes the general statement that the soils 
of the San Joaquin Valley have, as a rule, a much greater ad- 
mixture of sand than those of the Sacramento Valley. And 
this, it will be seen, has a modifying effect on each class of soils 
which will be mentioned. 

Adobe Soils. — In some parts of San Joaquin County are 
stiff adobes, like those in the Sacramento Valley, but as the 
adobe streak extends up the valley on the east side it becomes 
of a lighter type, and on its southward extension, in Merced 
County, can be found excellent orchards of most kinds of fruit.. 



36 Sa?i Joaquin Valley Soils. 

Though called adobe, this soil would only be considered a mod- 
erately cla}'ey loam by one who was accustomed to the stiff 
adobe of the west side of San Joaquin County, and elsewhere. 

Along the base of the foot-hills of the Sierra, there is in 
Fresno, Tulare, and part of Kern County, a belt of reddish or 
brown loam soils, corresponding to those similarly located in the 
Sacramento Valley, but generally more clayey and hence fre- 
quently designated as adobe by contrast with the very sandy 
soils of the valley at large, although properly they should be 
classed simply as clayey loams. This belt is five or six miles 
wide in the latter county, and narrows to the north and south. 
That near Fresno is described by Professor Hilgard as follows: — 

Reddish brown, only moderately heavy, with much coarse sand intermixed; 
easily tilled, except when very wet. This soil may be considered representative of 
the more substantial soils formed by the foot-hill creeks between Kings River and 
the San Joaquin River, in their shallow valleys, separated by divides of "sand-hill" 
ridges with very sandy soils. 

The greater part of the well-known Risen Vineyard, as well as 
the fruit farms lying north and south of the same, are on this 
soil. In Tulare and Kern Counties the area is occupied by 
grain thus far, but it can hardly be doubted that here as else- 
where it will prove adapted to a high quality of orchard fruits. 

'1 

Sand-hill Ridge Soils. — The occurrence of these ridges 
has been mentioned. They are but slightly elevated above the 
general level of the country, and their sandy soil passes by gra- 
dations into the brown adobe bordering the foot-hill streams, or 
into the reddish-light loam and " white-ash " soil of the country 
inland. In some cases their material was originally so loose as 
to be blown about by the winds. Since irrigation has been prac- 
ticed these sandy ridges have been noticed to grow over with 
rank weeds, and these gave a practical hint of the value of the 
soil, which has resulted in the planting of a considerable area 
with fruit, especially in the vicinity of Fresno City. After ex- 
amination and analysis of the soil Professor Hilgard writes as 
follows: — 

It cannot be expected that in a soil containing ninety per cent of inert sand, 
large percentages of plant food should be found; and if the figures of desirable 
constituents referred to a clay soil, or to a sandy soil of little depth, little could be 
said for it. But when such sandy material is from six to ten feet and more in depth, 
and roots can penetrate it as fast as they can grow, the case assumes a different 
aspect, since in that case the plan can and does utilize as a source of nourishment 
rvot (as is the case in close soils) twelve to twenty inches, but from three to eight 
feet, as is shown by inspection. To obtain the proper comparison with a clay soil, 
therefore, we should multiply the amounts of available plant food by three or four, 
^yhich will give respuctable percentages of all, and a very high one especially of 
lime. The sand-hill soil is eminently a calcareous one, and as such its plant food is 
in a highly available condition. 



Fresno and Tulare Plains. 37 

Soil of the San Joaquin Plains. — Professor Hil^ard 
states that the San Joaquin differs from the Sacramento Valley 
in a more distinct subdivision of the valley lands into upland 
or "bench" lands, and lowland or alluvial lands proper. The 
Stanislaus, Merced, and other rivers, after entering the great val- 
ley, meander in more or less extensive valleys of their own, 
which are often bordered by rather abrupt bluffs from forty to 
fifty feet high, falling off from rolling plateau lands abutting 
rather abruptly against the foot-hills of the Sierra. These pla- 
teau or " plains " lands have frequently a curiously carved sur- 
face of little hillocks, from ten to thirty feet across and from one 
to three feet high, closely dotting the surface, with only little 
drainage channels between, which are commonly floored with 
some gravel, or, at times, with cobble-stones, washed out of the 
subsoil. This hillocky land is popularly designated as " hog- 
wallows;" but the name does not properly designate a particular 
kind of soil (save locally), it being in some cases a heavy, grav- 
elly clay, in others very sandy, though perhaps predominantly 
the material is of a loamy character, with the tendency to the 
formation of "hardpan." When the latter is somewhat pro- 
nounced, it renders the smoothing down of the surface for con- 
venient cultivation rather troublesome. 

It is upon these plains soils, especially of Fresno and Tulare 
Counties, that the wonderful progress in fruit growing by irriga- 
tion has been made during the last few years. Though its sum- 
mer aspect is most forbidding and almost desert-like in lack of 
vegetation, the application of water has shown exceptional 
quickness of growth, early bearing, and lavish productiveness of 
tree and vine. Though there are local problems still to be solved 
in securing drainage to prevent undue rise of the water level, etc., 
it is no stretch of the imagination to say that the desert has been 
transformed into a fruit garden. 

From Professor Hilgard's investigations of the plains soils 
the following general deductions are drawn: — 

The soil of the Fresno plains is largely a greyish-white, somewhat ashy soil, chang- 
ing little to the depth of two leet or more, then gradually becoming more sandy; 
sometimes underlaid at from one and a half to three feet depth by a sheet of calareous 
hardpan, eight to eighteen inches in thickness, that seems to he merely the sub-soil 
cemented by lime. In planting trees it is sometimes necessary to break through this 
hardpan in order to enable the roots to reach moisture. This soil is said to be fairly 
representative of the country lying to southward and westward, toward Kings 
River, and the San Joaquin. To the east and north it passes into the reddish and 
sand-hill soils, formed by the streams coming from the foot-hills, which have already 
been described. The Tulare plains soil is prevalently of a dun color, quite light 
and sandy. All these soils are distinctly calcareous, and this accounts for the ex- 
traordinary thriftiness (under irrigation) of even such as do not show a high percent- 
age of phosphates and potash. Almost throughout, the percentage of phosphoric 



38 Foot-hill Soils. 

acid in the soils of the San Joaquin Valley is only moderately high. While in the 
lowlands, more or less impregnated with alkali, both potash and phosphates are com- 
paratively abundant, and will not rer|uire replacement for a long time to come, the 
phosphates will be the tirst to become exhausted in the uplands, when bone-meal and 
superphosphates will come into heavy demand. "On the other hand, the use of lime 
as a fertilizer will scarcely ever be called for in the San Joaquin Valley, an I potash 
manures will not be needed for a long time to come, even in the uplands, and never in 
the lowlands. 

Though the summer aspect of the gray, dusty soil of the San Joaquin plains 
might give the impression that it is destitute of, or at least very poor in, humus or 
vegetable mold, the figures show that this is far from being the case, for even the 
white soil of the Fresno plains shows six-tenths of one per cent, and that of the 
sandy Tulare plains one per cent and over. It is the lime so abundant in these soils 
that helps to retain the humus, despite the prolonged action of the hot summer's 
sun. 

The Alluvial Soils of the San Joaquin. — Allusion has 
already been made to these soils in discussion of the plains soils. 
In the valleys of the rivers crossing the eastern side of the valley, 
there are, bordering the streams as well as Tulare Lake, con- 
siderable areas of brown to blackish loam varying from heavy 
to light, but for the most part easily tilled and exceedingly rich. 
Considerable fruit has been grown for years on these situations, 
and, as will be noted in the chapters on different fruits, some 
kinds do well on these bottoms which do not show adaptation 
to the plains. The wider stretches of alluvial soils in the upper 
part of the valley, as in the Mussel Slough country, for instance, 
are notably well adapted to fruit growing. The occasional 
intrusion of alkali, whicji must be carefully avoided, is the chief 
obstacle to the general approval of these alluvial lands for fruit 
purposes. 

soils of the sierra foot-hills. 

On the east side of the great valley are the foot-hills of the 
Sierra Nevada region, in which fruit culture is advancing rapidly. 
Professor Hilgard gives the following conclusions from his 
investigations: — 

The soils of the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, throughout its course along the 
great valley, vary from a moderately clayey loam (as in the placer region of El Dorado 
and Placer Counties) to a heavy, though not uncommonly gravelly, often orange-ied 
clay. This character seems to be sensibly the sairve, whether the soil be derived 
from_ the decomposition of the ancient slate bedrock or directly from the dark-colored 
granites, thus creating a presumption that the two rocks are closely related. 

The soils are highly charged with iron (ferric hydrate or rust) to the extent of 
from seven to over twelve percent, which being finely divided, imparts to them the 
intense otange-red tint s ) familiar in the region of the placer mines, and during the 
dry season manifesting itself in the equally familiar red dust that disguises the natural 
tintseveiion the trees themselves. The soils of the foot-hills, so far as have been 
analyzed, agree with the soils of the valley in having a good percentage of lime, 
from about one-third to one and a half per cent, while the supply of potash and 
phosphates, as well as of organic matter, is smaller, and sometimes low, though 
never apparently inadequate for present productiveness, in the presence of so much 
lime. 



Soils of the Coast Range. 39 

The light-colored granites yield light-colored soils, of a loose texture, that in gen- 
eral are more scantily provided with the elements of fertility than the red soils, and 
while yielding a high (juality of fruits adapted to such soils (e. g., peaches, cherries, 
etc.) are not very durable and soon require fertilization. 

Where the foot-hill soils either obtain a sufificiency of moisture naturally, or -can 
be irrigated, they prove abundantly productive, and are rapidly acquiring a special 
reputation for the excellence of their fruit product, both of orchards and vineyards. 

Analyses of foot-hill soils indicate quite a wide diffefence in 
probable duration of fertility because of great variation in 
amounts of desirable minjral ingredients. In many cases, how- 
ever, where the yield of shallow-rooting plants soon shows 
impoverishment of the surface soil, the fertility of the sub- 
soil and of underlying pervious strata of disintegrating rock 
will long maintain deeply rooting trees and vines. 

It has also been shown that the foot-hill soils differ greatly 
in retention of moisture, and this fact should not be overlooked 
in the discussion which constantly prevails as to whether irriga- 
tion is necessary for fruit. The answer to the question must be 
according to the character and depth, above the bed-rock, of 
certain specific soils, as well as according to the requirements of 
certain fruits. 

SOILS OF THE COAST RANGE. 

The coast region of California consists for the most part 
of low ranges with intervening valleys. These valleys arc, as a 
rule, small, though a few show considerable area. In such a 
country the soil surface shows wide diversity within smaller 
areas than on the vast stretches of the great interior valley; 
consequently, so far as soil goes, the coast farms are often suited 
to a wider range of fruits than the interior valley farms of simi- 
lar size, and especial care should be taken in Uying out 
orchards to bring the different fruits upon the soil which best 
favors each. Concer ling the soils of the Coast Range in 
general, Professor Hilgard says: "In the coast region there are 
about the same classes of soils as have already been described in 
the great valley and the Sierra foot-hill regions, but they are de- 
rived from a great variety of diffei-ent rocks, often much local- 
ized, and are therefore very variable in composition." It will 
be pertinent to allude more specifically to the soils of the more 
famous fruit regions of the coast, which Professor Hilgard has 
examined. 

Region North of the Bay. — In the important fruit re- 
gions of Santa Rosa Valley, and the small valleys which open into 
it, in the Russian River Valley and the Cloverdale region, the 
soils are not dissimilar to those of Sonoma and Napa Valleys, 
which lie to the eastward. We specify, however, the soils of 



40 Famous Coast Valleys. 

the last two valleys because they have been more thoroughly 
examined. 

In Sonoma Valley, lying near Sonoma Creek, is a medium 
light loam of a reddish-buff tint when dry, and blackish when 
wet. On the higher lands adjacent is the red mountain soil, a 
brownish-red loam containing rock fragments, light in tillage, 
evidently especially adapted to fruit culture, favoring early 
fruiting as well as early maturity^ — so far as early maturity is 
attainable near the coast. Of the comparative qualities of these 
two soils Professor Hilgard says: — 

While differing widely in their aspect and physical properties, and in some points 
of their chemical composition, these two soils are yet not very far apart in the most 
essential point — the supply of plant food. In its percentages of potash, phos- 
phoric acid, and lime, the mountain soil stands somewhat below the valley soil, yet 
the supply of all three is fair. In humus the mountain soil exceeds that of the val- 
ley nearly one and a half times, and this, together with its extraordinary iron percent- 
age, accounts for its very high power for absorbing moisture, that forms a very 
effective safeguard against injury from drought. On the whole, the advantages of the 
two soils are very evenly balanced, its location giving the valley soil a similar degree 
of security against drought; but it is evidently more liable to injury from frosts 
and wet than the hill soil. The latter, with its eastern exposure, seems certainly 
pre-eminently adapted to grape culture. 

In Napa Valley and adjacent hill-sides there is a great vari- 
ety of soils. Some of the hill-side soils have been found quite 
deficient in fertility, lacking in potash, lime, and phosphoric acid; 
while others, like the hill-side soil from Sonoma Valley, just 
mentioned, and on the divide between the two valleys, are very 
fertile and desirable. The valley soil near St. Helena, which 
has been analyzed, seems to warrant the following comparison : — 

The Napa Valley soil differs from the Sonoma soils in two chief points. It is 
considerably richer in potash, and, on the other hand, considerably lower in phos- 
phates, as well as lower in lime. It may be that in both these respects the cultiva- 
tion it has undergone exerts a depressing influence upon the results. At the same 
time the abundant potash no doubt has some connection with the extraordinary crops 
sometimes grown in the Napa Valley. 

Alameda Valley. — The grand fruit region extending 
from the city of Oakland southward for nearly one hundred miles 
is one of the most important in the State. The northern part 
of this region is called the Alameda Valley. It lies east of 
San Francisco Bay. Of the soils of this valley Professor Hil- 
gard says : — 

Immediately along the bay shore lies a narrow strip of sandy land, sometimes 
sand drifts, which influence more or less the character of the adjacent marshes ; most 
of the soils of the latter, however, are heavy, and when reclaimed are very produc- 
tive. Inland of these lies a broad belt of black calcareous and very fertile adobe, 
somewhat refractory in tillage, which toward the foot of the hills often becomes yel- 
low and relatively poor. This adobe belt is interrupted by the sediment lands of the 
streams flowing from the Coast Range to the bay, which are generally light and of- 



Vineyards on Adobe Soils. 41 

ten of considerable width, although few of these streams are now of much importance, 
but the frequent shifting of their channels in past times has increased the alluvial sur- 
face. These sediment lands, frequently, of course, passing gradually into the adobe 
proper, are noted for their productiveness. 

It is these deep and rich alluvial deposits which have given 
the San Leandro and San Lorenzo and Haywards regions their 
great fame for fruit products. 

Farther south, in the Niles region, the loams are somewhat 
lighter, being the deposit of Alameda Creek, which has brought 
down the lighter materials from the Livermore Valley and the 
slopes of the Suflol Cailon.. Of the soils of the Livermore Val- 
ley, which has recently made great progress in the growth of 
fruit, especially grapes, Professor Hilgard says: — 

Analyses of three main divisions of the Livermore Valley, the rolling uplands, the 
bench lands, and the valley, show a wide difference between the uplands and the val- 
ley soil (from the Ojo del Monte). The latter has an extraordinarily high percent- 
age of potash, a very large one of lime, and a fair one of phosphoric acid, but is very 
poor in humus. In the upland soils, which differ very little from each other in com- 
position, the supply of potash is less than one-third as high as in the valley, that of 
lime somewhat over one-third, while the phosphoric acid is only about one-half as 
high, and but just above the usual limit of deficiency. The limit is past in the case 
of the bench soil, in which the supply of phosphates is quite deficient. Hence the 
difference between the thriftiness of the vines on the bench and in the valley is suffi- 
ciently accounted for, and the remedy is the use of bone meal. As regards the up- 
lands, the relatively considerable supply of lime will probably maintain the needful 
supply of available phosphoric acid for some years; but with them also the use of bone 
meal or other phosphate fertilizers will be among the first things called for when the 
vines have borne for some years. 

Soils around the Mission San Jose. — Near the im- 
aginary boundary between the Alameda and Santa Clara 
Valleys, upon a promontory of low hills extending from the foot- 
hills of the Coast Range about two miles into the Alameda Val- 
ley, the old Mission San Jose was located by the padres, and its 
orchard and vineyard were famous, even after the American occu- 
pation. Its elevated site secures freedom from frosts which visit 
the valley adjacent. Within the last few years there has been 
great extension of the fruit interest in the neighborhood of the 
Mission and the Warm Springs, especially in the growth of wine 
grapes. A large portion of these vineyards are planted on grav- 
elly upland adobe soil, and so notable a departure from the us- 
ual choice of lighter soils for the vine makes the character of the 
Mission lands of considerable interest. Professor Hilgard re- 
ports as follows: — 

Samples were taken from the upland adobe of the neighborhood, now mostly oc- 
cupied by vineyards, and of the deep, black calcareous soil which is found in the 
smaller valleys southward, and which is much lighter in tillage than the upland adobe. 
The analysis shows the supplies of potash and phosphoric acid in the upland adobe to 
be ample, the latter being more than twice as high as the average of the lighter soi s 
of the Coast Range opposite, or of the Livermore Valley, as given above, liut for 



42 



Soils of the Santa Clara Valley. 



so heavy a soil the supply of lime is not as high as would be desirable for easy tillage 
or even thriftiness to the full extent of which the soil is capable ; nor is the supply of 
humus nearly as large as it should be. In both respects, therefore, the soil is capable 
of improvement, by liming and green manuring. The partial examination of the 
deep black adobe of the valleys, Un comparison in the latter two points, showed the 
effect of the addition of lime and vegetable matter to the gray adobe of the ridge. 
The amount of available phosphoric acid is more than double!, and the surprising 
growth made by young seedling vines in this soil, as compared with the ridge soil, 
speaks of the difference in favor of the former. 

The Santa Clara Valley.— The Santa Clara Valley 
has a great variety of .soils, from the dee ) rich blackish loams of 
the Alviso District, which are largely used for vegetables and 
small fruits, southward to the lighter loams and the sediment- 
ary deposits which constitute the famed fruit lands around San 
Jose and Santa Clara. The higher portions of tlie valley slope 
are often gravelly, and above them are the shallower but very 
desirable loams of the hill-sides which inclose the valley. The 
desirability of the best valley lands has been so well and so long 
tested by practical culture that investigation has rather been 
given to the uplands and hill-sides, which have more recently 
been planted with fruit. 

Professor Hilgard has specially examined samples of dark 
gravelly loam representing the extreme western edge of the 
sloping, gently rolling plain that forms the western portion of 
the Santa Clara Valley southward of Mountain View. Along 
the streams the soil is of great depth, sometimes showing hardly 
a perceptible change for twelve or fifteen feet in depth, and the 
roots of trees are found penetrating freely to such depths in the 
gravelly material. In his report Professor Hilgard says: — ■ 

This great depth, perviousness, and perfect drainage would constitute, alone, no 
mean advantage, if the soil were only of moderate fertility. But the analyses show 
a very high supply of plant food, surprisingly so in view of the rather markedly low 
percentages found on the ranges near Searsville. The dark, gravelly soil here in 
question is a very rich one in every respect. The potash and lime percentages are 
unusually high, as is also the supply of humus; that of phosphoric acid is high, and 
in an available condition. In the subsoil this ingredient is in smaller but still very fair 
supply. Under the circumstances the large humus percentage is an earnest ol a large 
supply of nitrogen also. It is true that these large percentages apply only to one-half 
of the soil mass, the rest being gravel. But the depth and easy permeabil.ty of the 
soil more than make up for the difference, in comparison, e. ,^., with an adobe-soil of 
similar composition. These soils may be considered as well adapted to the produc- 
tion of almost any fruit consistent with the local climate, and should yield heavy- 
bodied, spirituous wines. 

The University vineyard-plot at Cupertino is situated on a 
gentle slope which lies between the Santa Clara Valley proper 
and the Coast Range. The soil is a drab-tinted clay loam, 
largely intermixed with gravel and rock fragments, being in gen- 
eral of the character just described. 

Large tracts of the red "chamissal " and " chaparral " land on 



Southward Along the Coast. 43 

the hill-sides of the Santa Clara Valley have been cleared for 
fruit during the last few years. Of a specimen of such soil, from 
two miles northeast of Saratoga, Professor Hilgard says: — 

The analysis gives high testimony to the intrinsic value of this soil. It has an 
abundant supply of poiash as well as of lime, even for such a heavy soil. Its phos- 
phoric acid percentage is fair; its supply of humus somewhat extraordinary for a soil 
formed in an "arid ' climate. Its power for absorbing moisture is very high, from 
the concurrence of the large humus supply with that of iron oxide. It is, tlierefore, 
a si)il of great resources, and well deserving of the high culture which its peculiar 
mechanical condition necessitates. It must be kept thoroughly and deeply tilled, and 
its somewhat refractory subsoil should be broken up so as to allow roots deep pene- 
tration. The soil is a heavy clay, dark reddish-brown when dry, forming hard 
lumps; dark umber color when wet, and softening easily; quite stiff in working, but 
assuming good tilth when *akfn at the right stage of moisture. 

Santa Cruz and Southward. — Though much of the 
soil just described exists on the east or landward side, there is 
on the seaward slope of the Santa Cruz Range an evident pre- 
dominance of light loams on which much fruit is now being 
planted. A sample of such soil from Soquel, which was ana- 
lyzed by Professor Hilgard, showed rather a small percentage of 
potash and phosphoric acid. Their lime supply is still, however, 
quite adequate for thriftiness in such light soils, which, like those 
farther south, show a very satisfactory and remarkably uniform 
power for absorbing moisture. It is evident that the phosphates 
will be the first thing requiring replacement when these soils 
become "tired," and fruit rather than grain culture should be 
pursued by those cultivating them. 

One sample of the coast loams was from redwood land 
taken about two hundred feet above sea level and two miles in- 
land from Pescadero. As much fruit is now grown on land 
cleared from the redwoods it is of interest to state that the anal- 
ysis shows a high percentage of lime, a large one of potash, and 
a considerable higher amount of phosphoric acid than the soil 
from Santa Cruz just mentioned, .but still somewhat low, 
While sufficient for thriftiness in the presence of so much lime, 
it is pretty certain to need phosphates so soon as its first 
fertility is exhausted. The humus percentage is remarkably 
high for so light a soil within the coast region. It probably 
represents fairly the favorite soil of the redwood. 

The Pajaro Valley is a region of various soils. Lowest are 
the clayey loams of the bottom, on which the growth of small 
fruit has extended vastly during the last few years. Above are 
stretches of adobe, and higher still are dark reddish loam plains 
bounded by slopes; on these higher loams and hill-sides there are 
thrifty orchards. 

Eastward are the Gilroy and Hollistcr regions, being south- 



44 Fruit Soils of Southern California. 

ern extensions of the great Santa Clara Valley. They contain 
a variety of soils, from deep moist alluviums to warm, red, hill- 
side loams; and these are fast being employed for fruits accord- 
ing to their different adaptations. 

The upper and higher portions of the Salinas Valley and its 
tributaries, the Huer-huero and Estrella, form an extensive plain 
dotted with oaks and having mostly a light loam or even sandy 
soil, of great depth; there are also limited tracts of clay or 
adobe, but the lighter soils alone have thus far been used for 
fruit, and few of the trees are old enough to do more than indi- 
cate the eminent adaptability of the soil and climate to fruit 
growing. The soils in general are highly calcareous and rich in 
potash, and in some cases show an extraordinary supply of phos- 
phates. This is a newly developed region, in which actual ex- 
perience is of recent date. 

The Arroyo Grande region, which is the garden ground of 
San Luis Obispo County, has deep rich loams, easily tilled and 
retentive of moisture. Some fruits, apples perhaps in particular, 
are grown in great excellence. 

THE SOILS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Professor Hilgard's examination of the soils of this popular 
portion of the State shows them to be for the most part of ex- 
ceptional fertility. This general remark applies both to the 
soils of the coast valleys and of the mesas. 

Mesa Soils. — What are known as mesas lie at the base of 
the interior mountains and extend to the sea-shore at Santa 
Monica and southward wherever there is a bluff bank. Concern- 
ing these mesa lands Professor Hilgard writes: — 

In the semi-tropic region of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego, the 
uplands or mesas which occupy the larger portion of the surface have usually a red- 
dish, gravelly loam soil, more or less heavy in different localties, but on the whole 
remarkably uniform in its character. It seems to be a modification of the foot-hills 
soil northward of the Sierra San P ernando, but of greater depth, more easily tilled, 
and with higher percentage of plant food, especially of phosphates. Hence, though 
of the disconsolately arid aspect of a gravel bed in the dry season, these mesa lands 
when irrigated prove profusely fertile, and in spring are covered with a dense carpet 
of bright flowers. For fruits adapted to the climate, they are probably excelled by 
few so far as quality is concerned; although, on account of greater facility for irri- 
gation, the lower levels and the terraces or benches along the streams have chiefly 
been occupied. 

A representative of the best mesa soils is that prevailing 
in Redlands, a flourishing fruit-growing colony at the head of the 
Santa Ana or San Bernardino Valley. The following points are 
taken from Professor Hilgard's report: — 



Variability in Mesa Soils. 45 

The prevailing soil of the region is a reddish-brown sandy loam, containing a good 
deal of coarse, angular, granitic sand. This material changes but slightly to the depth 
of from three lo four feet, where it is mostly underlaid by an orange-yellow hardpan 
flecked with white grains of coarse angular sand, or rather granitic debris. This hard- 
pan is quite porous, its cement is a red clay, which soltens in water with little diffi- 
culty, and it may be considered as fairly penetrable by roots. It was found by ex- 
amination that the hardpan subsoil contains much less of inert sand than the surface 
soil, although its aspect would lead to the contrary conclusion. The hardpan is con- 
siderably more retentive of moisture than the surface soil, albeit the latter contains 
some humus to increase this factor. The humus percentage of the soil is, however, very 
small, and constitutes its chief defect, as in nearly all the mesa soils of the southern 
region. The hardpan stratum secures the land against waste of irrigation water, and 
against drought by its high retentiveness of moisture. 

Chemically, the surface soil is rich in potash (so heavily drawn upon by vines), 
while the hardpan is relatively poor in that substance. The lime percentage is the 
same in both, and is ample. In phosphoric acid both alike are above the limit of 
deficiency, but the supply is not large, and will probably be the first needing to be 
replenished when the soil becomes "tired." Still, in view of the depth and per- 
viousness of the subsoil, it may be long before this condition will make itself felt in 
the case of deep-rooted plants, such as vines and fruit-trees. 

Though there is, as noted by Professor Hilgard,a marked 
uniformity in the mesa soils of the southern region, his analyses 
show some variation, which is worth mentioning. 

One specimen was from what is described as a "sloping 
mesa," but is really a talus or wash at the base of the foot-hills of 
the Sierra Madre in Los Angeles County. This soil is rather 
coarsely granular or sandy, the grains being obviously largely 
granite debris. Such soils are known to contain abundance of 
potash and, in California, of lime. A special determination 
proved that it also contained an adequate supply of phosphoric 
acid. The soil was complained of as not suited to the growth 
of grass or other shallow-rooting plants, and the explanation was 
found by Professor Hilgard's mechanical analysis, which showed 
that less that one-fifth of the soil was "fine earth," such as is 
available for plant nutrition. The surface soil, upon which 
shallow-rooting plants mainly depend for their nourishment, 
contains too little fine matter from which their roots can draw 
sustenance, and is also too open to th'e dry summer atmosphere. 
The fine matters are constantly carried by the rain or irrigation 
water to greater depths, where the roots of trees, vines, and tap- 
rooted plants can follow them, and find moisture at the same 
time. This fact explains the success of certain fruit-trees even 
in such forbidding places — providing water is sufficient for irri- 
gation. 

Another specimen of mesa soils which was examined was 
from a point eastward from the location last mentioned, along 
the same range, being from the higher lands of the Ontario 
Colony. This soil was quite different from the foregoing, both 
in chemical and mechanical composition. Professor Hilgard's 
comments were as follows: — 



46 Southern California Valleys. 

Unlike the usual mesa soils of the southern region, this soil is of a blackish gray- 
tint, due to an unusually high percentage of humus. The surface soil, to the depth 
of six inches, is quite sandy, and full of herbaceous roots, denoting a vigorous vegeta- 
tion, and glistens with mica scales. Lower down it becomes more compact, and at 
the same time shows an increasing amount of rock fragments. Its potash percentage 
is extraordinary, exceeding that of any other California soil thus far examined. The 
lime and magnesia percentages are very high, and that of phosphoric acid, while it 
would not generally be considered high, is so at least in comparison with other mesa 
soils of the southern region. Considering, in addition, its depth, this soil should be 
extremely productive— almost too much so for the production of high quality wine 
grapes, but well adapted to that of raisins, as well as of olives, and doubtless, from 
its location, to that of citrus fruits; all of which should in such a soil require only one 
or two good winter irrigations to secure both quantity and quality. 

Interior Valleys. — The general characteristics of the 
interior valley lands, which have become famous for their fruit 
product, are not unlike the best mesa soils already described. 

This conclusion was reached by Professor Hilgard after 
study of the valley soils and subsoils of the Pomona Colony, of 
Riverside and of Cajon Valley — all being rich in lime and 
potash and rather low in phosphoric acid and humus, which 
points to the phosphates and green manuring as the fertilizers to 
be first applied. On the other hand, a sample of soil from the 
national ranch in San Diego County is found to be richer in 
both potash and phosphoric acid than the Los Angeles soil, but 
its smaller proportion of lime detracts somewhat from its advan- 
tage over the other. Considering its great depth and large sup- 
ply of plant food, it is certainly of high promise. Where con- 
venient, this soil, especially where it is of the heavier kind, would 
be benefited by a moderate application of lime or marl. The 
same recommendation is made with reference to several of the 
heavier soils of the southern region which have been examined. 
Increase of humus by plowing under green crops is also a prom- 
ising treatment for heavy, refractory soils. 

Quite different from such soils is that of the second bench 
of the San Gabriel Valley. Analysis shows that its potash 
percentage is rather low, but it has a good supply of phosphoric 
acid and lime, and its easy tillage and great depth, offsetting its 
somewhat low retentiveness of moisture, render it a very desir- 
able soil. 

Coast Valleys. — The valleys of the seaward slope of the 
Coast Range have mostly gray, light, and silty, rather than sandy, 
soils, quite similar in appearance from Ventura to Humboldt 
County, though differing considerably in composition, those of 
the southern region being more calcareous, and apparently richer 
in phosphoric acid. 

The valleys of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties are be- 
ing rapidly planted with fruit-trees. They have for the most 



S 01 it hem Coast Regions. 47- 

part sandy loams in tlieir lower portions, finer materials higher 
up, and much adobe in the mountain valleys which drain into 
them. So far examination has not been made of soils from 
many localities. The report made by Professor Hilgard on his 
examination of soils from the Santa Clara Valley in Ventura 
County is significant from the great amount of fruit now being 
profitably grown on the soils mentioned: — 

The Santa Clara Valley, which is very sandy and narrow from its source to Santa 
Paula, then widens gradually, until within twelve miles of the coast it suddenly ex- 
pands into the Saticoy Plain, widening to about sixteen miles on reaching the coast. 
The northern portion is largely an undulating upland with a yellowish loam soil; the 
southern constitutes a kind of a delta of the Santa Clara River, its soil near the latter 
being a gray, silty loam, while the bench above has a reddish soil. Both soils show 
an excellent composition, the valley soil having the advantage of a high percentage 
of phosphates, while the mountain soil, a little heavier, with a smaller amount of 
phosphates, has a higher lime percentage and more humus. These soils are espe- 
cially interesting, being peculiarly favored in regard to their relations to moisture. 
The valley soil remains moist within fifteen to twenty inches of the surface during the 
driest part of the season, when the water table falls as low as twenty feet. The same 
is true more or less of the Saticoy Plain at large; and the soil of other valleys, as, e. g., 
the Ojai, is measurably similar. So are, probably, the valley soils of Santa Barbara, 
so far as 1 have the opportunity of examination. 

Coast Flats. — Where the surface descends gradually to 
the sea-shore, and not in bluffs of mere soil, there are, as in the 
Westminster and Anaheim region, coast flats several miles in 
width, where the soil is a dark-colored sandy loam, glistening 
with scales of mica, and more or less affected with alkali in the 
lower portions. Similar soils are found in tracts of greater or 
less extent, up the coast as far as Santa Barbara at least. None 
of these soils have as yet been analyzed, except with respect to 
the alkali salts sometimes present in them, which are at tunes 
purely saline, at others strongly alkaline from the presence of 
carbonate of soda, when the use of gypsum affords prompt re- 
lief.* As a rule, these sea-shore lands are very productive, but 
fruits for them must be chosen with reference to their low level 
and exposure to coast influences. 

Desert Soils. — In view of the extension of fruit culture 
upon the so-called desert lands of the Mojave and the valley of 
the Colorado, wherever irrigation can be secured, it is important 
to include a note on these soils to show that, to some extent at 
least, these lands are deserts because of lack of water and not 
because of infertility of soil. Professor Hilgard gives these 
sketches: — 

The analysis of the soil from the neighborhood of Mojave shows clearly that U is 
not infe ' ^ . . . . . . 

it greatly 



rior in productive capacity to some of the best soils of the great valley, which 
ly resembles, save in the scarcity of humus, or vegetable, matter. Its supply of 



*" Vide Report on Alkali Soils," etc., by E. W. Hilgard, Berkeley, Cal. A copy can be had free 
on application. 



48 TJie So-called Desert Soils. 

lime and potash is high; that of phosphoric acid low, but not more so than in some 
very productive soili of the valley. The scarcity of humus is the defect which it 
would be most needful to remedy; probal)ly best by turning in a crop of alfalfa, 
which there could be no difficulty in growing where irrigation is available. There 
are doubtless many tracts where even this defect does not exist, since they are covered 
with a dense growth of small shrubs, under which grasses flourish in good seasons, 
giving pasture to sheep. Irrigation is here the all-important question, since the nat- 
ural rainfall of about four inches, sometimes reduced to one or two, cannot be relied 
upon for any purpose. Only a detailed survey, however, can determme the tracts 
having an arable soil, as against those overrun by arid sand. 

The soil of the Colorado River bottom is certainly a highly productive one, 
easily worked, and not liable to sufter from wet in case of overflows, being quite light, 
notwithstanding its large percentage of alumina as shown by analysis. It is a highly 
calcareous soil, containing over sixteen per cent of carbonate of lime, partly in con- 
cretions, but mostly in a finely pulverulent form. Its potash percentage is very high, 
yet there seems to be no trouble from alkali, as the soda percentage is quite small. 
Its supply of phosphoric acid is fair, though not large for a bottom soil; the humus 
percentage is likewise small for a lowland soil, yet adequate. It is therefore likely 
that whenever the water of the Colorado River shall be made available for irrigation, 
these bottom-lands will yield rich returns for cultivation. 

It has been deinonstrated that some situations in what is 
called the desert region are fitted to produce very early fruits, 
and probably there are locations where such fruits as the date 
will yield better results than in other portions of the State. 
Quite a beginning has already been made in the development of 
these desert lands. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE WILD FRUITS OF CALIFORNIA. 

Among fruits native to California, the apple, because of its 
acknowledged kingship of fruits borne on deciduous trees, may 
be mentioned first. On the banks of streams from Sonoma 
County northward, beyond the boundaries of the State, is found 




Native Crab-Apple of California, 

the " Oregon crab-apple,"* described as a shrub or small tree, 
but which, in favorable situations, attains good size. Such trees 
are reported from the neighborhood of Crescent City, Del 
Norte County, with bodies one foot in diameter, with spreading 
tops, loaded with small, oval fruit, of a golden color when ripcf 
This fruit is eaten by the Indians, and was used in early times 
for jelly making by the white settlers. The tree is generally 
found on cold, wet land, bordering ponds, streams, and marshes. 
The California wild plum;]: has attracted considerable atten- 
tion ever since the advent of the gold seekers. It was early 



* Pirus rivularis. 

t John Mavity in Pacific Rurtjl Press, Vol. IV, p. 198. 

X r run us SJibcordata. 



(49) 



so 



Wt/d Plums. 



noticed that there are at least two varieties * of the species. 
They are found well distributed over the uplands of the coast 
and interior, becoming, however, more abundant, and bearing 
more pulpy fruit toward the northern part of the State. One 
variety is round, and sometimes nearly an inch in diameter; the 
other, a little smaller, oblong, and almost the shape and color of 
a Damson when ripe. The fruit is borne upon scraggy, many- 
branched shrubs, from three to ten feet high, which generally 
grow in patches at the head of ravines, on rocky hills, and in 
open woods. The two varieties are found associated, and both 
are esteemed by Indians and whites. 

Early efforts were made to domesticate these wild plums, 
and they showed themselves susceptible of improvement by cul- 
tivation to a certain extent. In 1856 there was on the Middle 
Yuba River, not far from Forest City, in Sierra County, a way- 
side establishment, known as " Plum Valley Ranch," so called 
from the great quantity of wild plums growing on and about 
the place. The plum by cultivation gave a more vigorous 
growth and larger fruit.-f- Transplanted from the mountains 
into the valley they are found to ripen earlier.;]: Transplanted 
from the mountains to a farm near the coast, in Del Norte 

County, they did not thrive.^ One 
variety, moved from the hills near 
Petaluma, in 1858, was grown as an 
orchard tree for fifteen years, and im- 
proved both in growth and quality of 
fruit by cultivation.il The attention 
of fruit growers was early drawn to 
the possible value of the wild plum 
as grafting stock, and it is reported 
to have done fairly well on trial. § 
Recently excellent results have been 
reported from the domestication of 
the native plum in Nevada County, 
and fruit shown at the State fair of 
1888 gave assurance that by cultiva- 
tion and by selecting seedlings valu- 
able varieties can be obtained. It is statedlT that in Sierra 
County the wild plum is the only plum which finds a market at 
good prices and that cultivated gages, blue and egg plums 




Native Plum of California. 



A Kellogg, in Hutching' s Magazine, Vol. 
t Report California Agricultural Society, 185 
t Cal. Cultnrist, 1858, p. 242. 
§ Pacific Rural Press, Vol. IV, p. 798. 
II TKe same, p. 163. 
TILetter from S. B. Davidson, Downieville, 



5, P- 
3, p. 



Jl^i/d Cherries. 5 [ 

scarcely pay for gathering. The wild plum makes delicious 
preserves. 

Classed also among the plums is the " oso berry," or, as it 
is sometimes called, the " California false plum,"* a shrub or 
small tree, from two to fifteen feet in height, found in moist 
places and on the north slopes of hills, from San Luis Obispo 
northward. It has bark smooth and brown like a plum or 
cherry. The fruit when ripe is clothed with a handsome blue 
bloom, and is an oblong, plum-like, pulpy fruit, beautiful, but 
rather bitter. This species has also been used as grafting stock, 
with the effect of dwarfing and causing early bearing -f- of the 
varieties worked upon it. 

We have several species of Primus, which may be called 
wild cherries. The first is commonly called the wild cherry,:): 
and is an erect, slender shrub, two to twelve feet high, bearing on 
a raceme a round, purplish-black or red fruit, with a round stone. 
The fruit is edible, but somewhat astringent. This species oc- 
curs throughout the State, except near the coast, extends north- 
ward to the Columbia River, and eastward to the Rocky 
Mountains. This species very closely resembles the choke-cherry 
and the wild black cherry of the Atlantic States. Some ob- 
servers, however, protest against calling it a choke-cherry, be- 
cause it has none of the properties of that cherry. The wild 
fruit is used to some extent for marmelade.§ It has been culti- 
vated to some extent in places near its habitat. In 1858 there 
was quite a plantation of it in the foot-hills east of Marysville.H 
As it grows well on cool north hill-sides in the Southern coun- 
ties, it has been suggestedlT that the improved cherries, which 
are, as a rule, not satisfactory so far as tried in that part of the 
State, might succeed if planted in the places where the wild 
cherry thrives ; or the wild roots might prove trustworthy and 
valuable stocks on which to work the improved varieties. They 
were used for this purpose in Oregon in 1850 because there were 
no other cherry stocks available. An excellent growth of graft 
was secured, but the stock was condemned because of suckering.** 

There is another species-f-f- which sometimes becomes a tree 
twenty-five feet high, bearing fruit in an umbel or true cherry 
fashion. The fruit is roundish and black, and about one-third 



* Niittalia cerasiforinis. 

+ Pacific Rural Press, Vol. IV, p. iq8. 

} Primus detnissii. 

§ J. G. Lemmon, in Rural Press, Feb. 22, 1879. 

II Agricultural Society Report, i 58, p. 174. 

II Rural Cali/ornian, Vol. X p. 107. 

**Seth Lewelling, in -V. U'. Horticulturist, November, iS 

tt Prunns emargi7iatn. 



52 Wild Peach and Grape. 

of an inch in diameter, very bitter and astringent. From its 
bearing habit it lias been suggested as worth trial as a stock for 
improved cherries. 

The California "evergreen cherry,"* or " islay," early at- 
tracted attention for the beauty of its shining dark green foliage, 
which somewhat resembles holly. The fruit was shown at the 
first horticultural fair in San Francisco, in 1853, and was de- 
scribed as of delicate flavor, with a kernel "almost equal in 
flavor to the almond." f The plant is now grown as an orna- 
mental shrub and as a hedge plant. 

There is on the islands of Catalina and Santa Cruz, off the 
coast of Southern California, an evergreen cherry:}: which is 
much superior to the related species on the mainland. It is 
described ^ as a tree fifteen to twenty-five feet high, with com- 
pact and well-rounded head, bearing a fruit three-quarters of 
an inch in diameter, dark red-purple, the thin pulp sweet, with 
a bitter almond flavor, but no acidity or astringency. This fruit 
has been mentioned as worthy of cultivation.il 

Perhaps the most interesting wild fruit of California is the 
wild peach, or wild almond.lT which is found on the eastern 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is a low, spreading 
shrub, one to six feet high. The fruit more nearly resembles 
the peach than does that of any other of our native species of 
the genus Prumis, and is, in fact, the nearest approach in the 
American flora to the old genus Amygdaiiis of the Old World,** 
to which the true peach, nectarine, and almond belong. The 
late Dr. Kellogg contended that the shrub was really a species 
of Amydalus, but it is stated that this claim cannot be ap- 
proved. 

Of wild grapes the prevailing species ( Vitis Califormca) 
has of late become well known through its use as a grafting 
stock for the European varieties which are grown in our vine- 
yards. Thus far the native species has proved resistant to the 
phylloxera, and otherwise fitted to work less hardy varieties 
upon. Something has also been done in improving the species 
by cultivation and by selection of varieties. The California 
wild vine occurs along streams from San Diego northward to 
the upper part of the State. It is also thought that the species 



* p. ilici folia. 

t Alia, Oct. 7. 1853. 

J P. occidentaiis. 

§ " Studies in Botany of California," by E. L. Greene. Vol. VI, p. 396. 

II Gustav Eisen, in Pacific Rural Press, Vol. XXVI. p. 8. 

*([ PriitiHs .■iiidersouii. 

•* "California Botany," Vol. I, p. 168. 



Wild Raspberries and Blackberries. 53 

occurring in Arizona and Utah* may have intruded into the 
southeastern portion of Cahfornia. It has been quite widely 
introduced as a resistant vine, and seems to share the resistant 
quaUties of the Cahfornia species. 

The list of berries native to California is quite large. As 
raspberries we have the salmon-berry ,f which has for its area 
most of the western half of the continent; but there is a variety:) 
chiefly confined to California. It thrives best in the upper coast 
counties, and efforts to introduce it as a commercial fruit gen- 
erally throughout the State have not proved successful. 

There is also the wild raspberry, § abundant in the Coasi 
Range and in the Sierra Nevada. It has a yellowish-red fruit, 
rather large, with a white bloom, and agreeable flavor. Botan- 
ically it is very near the black raspberry or thimble-berry of the 
Eastern States, from which it is hardly distinguished by rather 
more coarsely toothed leaflets, stouter and more hooked prickles, 
and the color of the fruit. |i Besides these we have two other 
species of raspberry and one variety, occurring from San Fran- 
cisco northward along the coast. IT Wild raspberry patches of 
considerable area are found in the Coast Range of the upper 
half of the State. The fruit is gathered by neighboring settlers, 
and efforts are now in progress for the introduction of the plants 
in cultivated grounds. 

The most delicious wild fruit of California, and at the same 
time the most important commercially, is the blackberry. We 
have one very variable species,** bearing an oblong, very sweet, 
and desirable fruit. It was favorably mentioned by early ex- 
plorers, was highly esteemed by the Indians, and still plays an 
important part in domestic economy, from Ventura County 
northward along the Coast Range. A variety of this species 
has attained some fame as a "white blackberry." It is said that 
about i860, parties gathering blackberries about half a mile 
from Crescent City, Del Norte County, discovered a few bushes 
or vines loaded with a berry exactly in shape of the blackberry, 
but of a white or cream color. The whole patch did not extend 
beyond a space of a dozen feet square, but the vines were luxu- 
riant and bore well. It was a great curiosity, and the place 
and the berry much sought for. Since that time the vines have 
spread gradually over a space of perhaps half an acre of ground. 

^ Vitis Arizonica. 
t Ruhiis Xtitkanus. 
X 7<ar. velutinus. 
S Riibus teucodermis. 
I "California Botany," Vol. I, p. 172. 
Ti Riibiis pcdatus and R. spectabilis 7uxr Meuziesii. 
** Rubiis itrsinjts. 



54 Wild Strawberries and Gooseberries. 

Plants have been taken from this locaHty to different parts.* 
Our wild blackberry has been planted to some extent, and 
several varieties have been secured by selection and cultivation. 
The most famous is the Aughinbaugh blackberry, propagated 
and sold by a man of that name, about 1875. It achieved some 
popularity, but, being a pistillate variety, needed association 
with other berries to fertilize it. -f- For this and other reasons 
it became unpopular, and has been nearly lost sight of. 

The wild blackberry quickly takes possession of ground 
from which timber has been cut. The bushes vary much from 
year to year in productiveness. The season of 1887 was de- 
scribed as an unusually good bearing year, both to the upper 
part of this State and in Oregon. 

There are four species of strawberry indigenous in California, 
but two of them are identical with those of the Atlantic States 
and Europe. \ One species we share with Chile § and the fourth 
appears to be distinct from foreign and other Californian forms. || 
It occurs from San Diego northward to the central part of the 
State in the hills of the Coast and Contra Costa Ranges. All 
these species are gathered for domestic uses. The Chilean 
species, which grows near the sea, is so abundant in some places 
that residents trust to the beach for their strawberry supply, and 
even turn their hogs out to feed upon them. 

Currants and gooseberries are represented in our flora by 
many species. Of the former there is one with a black berry, IT 
one-third of an inch in diameter, having something the flavor of 
the cultivated black currant; another has a reddish, sweetish 
berry; ** still another bearing a yellow fruit is used in the mount- 
ain districts of the extreme nor.h of the State and described as 
a fine fruit when ripe.-f"f- Others are destitute of edible qualities^ 
but have been distributed abroad for their handsome, fragrant 
flowers. We are also well supplied with gooseberry species; one 
has large but rather dry berries.:|::I: Two of them bear acceptable 
fruit, §§ the berries being small to medium size, with pleasant 
flavor. The range of these species is, in the first case, on shady 
banks and from Santa Barbara northward beyond the limits of 
the State ; and the other species prevails in the Sierra Nevada, 



* Pacific Rural Press, Sept. 8, 1883. 

t Pacific Rural Press, December, 1876. 

X Fragaria Virginiana and F. vesca. 

§ Fragaria Chilensis. 

II Fragaria Calif ortiica. 

1[ R. bracteosuin. 

** R. cereuiii. 

tt A', aureuin. 

t{ Ribes Menziesii. 

§§ A', divaricatuin and R. oxycanthoides. 



Native Cranberries. 



55 



from Mariposa northward, at an elevation of 6,ooo to 9,000 feet ; 
also northward and eastward to the Rocky Mountains and 
beyond. 

Several cranberries, or bilberries, are also found within our 
borders. One bearing pale red, insipid berries is found in the 




Wild Goosebekry of California. 

redwoodsof Mendocino County, and extends northward to Sitka.* 
Another, a more straggling shrub, with large edible blue berries, 
extends below our northern border from Oregon, where it is 
abundant. -f- Another, with light red berries, inferior to the 
European iDilberry, is found in wet places in the Sierra Nevadas, 
at 7,000 feet elevation. \ Another, also high up in the Sierras, 



* Vaccinittin parvifolium. 
t V. ovali/oliuin. 
I y. microphylliim. 



56 Other Native Berries. 

has a small blue berry, covered with bloom, and of sweetish 
flavor.* Another is an evergreen shrub, erect, bears a dark 
purple, edible berry, turning black without bloom, and occurs 
along the Coast Range and vicinity, from Monterey to Oregon, 
especially in the redwoods, -f* 

There are also to be classed near to the cranberries, botan- 
ically, the manzanita species and their varieties. Of these, one 
growing along the coast, from Santa Barbara northward, :|: yields 
a smooth, red fruit from which a cooling, sub-acid drink is made ; 
another is the medicinal bearberry, § which is eaten by the In- 
dians and upon which early visitors to the coast also regaled 
themselves ; another is the common manzanita,|I occurring on 
dry and barren ridges, both on the coast and at great elevations, 
the fruit of a yellowish or dull red color, being eaten by Indians 
and bears. 

Another botanical associate of the foregoing is the ever- 
green or salal, a relative of the wintergreen of the Atlantic States. 
We have two species. One, occurring in forests in the upper part 
of the State, bears a scarlet fruit which is described as aromatic 
and delicious. IT The other is the shallon or salal, ** a purple fruit 
becoming black, which is highly esteemed by the Indians. This 
species occurs from the bay of Monterey northward. 

We have also local species of the barberry. One of these is 
sometimescalled the false Oregon grape.-|-|- It extends southward 
into California as far as Monterey. Another species has much 
the same range and bears a larger fruit. || The fruit of both 
species is roundish, of acid taste, and is said to be fine for pies 
and tarts. Still another species §§ takes a more southerly range, 
occurring from San Francisco southward into Mexico. The fruit 
is about one-third of an inch in diameter, pleasant to the taste, 
and is the Lenya Ainarilla of the Mexicans. 

We have also a local species II li of the service-berry, or June- 
berry. It is a shrub from three to eight feet high, occurring from 
the sea-level to an altitude of i o,ooo feet. In the Sierra Nevadas 
the fruit is from a quarter to a third of an inch in diameter, pur- 
plish and edible. 

Another interesting fruit is the lemon-berry.HIT It is a stout, 

* V. occidentiite. 

+ V. ovatuvi. 

X Arctostaphylos ioinetitosa. 

§.-J. iiTa ursi. 

II A. Manzanita. 

II Gaultheria myrsinites. 

■•'* G. shallon. 

\\ Berberis aqiiifoliuvi. 

\ \ B. nervosa. 

§§ B. pinnata. 

III! Ainelanchier alnifolia. 

ITIT Rhus integrifolia. 



California Lotus or Jujube. 



57 



branching, evergreen shrub, forming dense thickets along the 
coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and extending into 
Western Arizona. On Santa Cruz Island it is common on the 
northward slope, and is of shapely, tree-like proportions, much 
larger than ever seen on the mainland.* The red berries are 




The California Jujl-be. 



coated with a whitish crystalline substance pleasantly acid. A 
bunch of the berries stirred in sweetened water is said to make a 
most delicious lemonade. -f- 



<'E. L. Greene, "Studies," No. \I. 

tG. Eisen, Pacific Rural Press, Vol. XXVI, p. 8. 



5.S ]Va/nNt and Filbert. 

California has a native species of a genus which includes 
the classic lotus and the jujubes so well known as the source of 
jellies and confections of various kinds. It is known as Parry's 
lotus or jujube,* and it is found in gravelly ravines near San 
Felipe and Rock Summit House, in San Diego County; also 
in like situations east of San Bernardino. It is a zigzag-branch- 
ing, thorny bush or small tree, four to sixteen feet high, seldom 
over four to six inches in diameter. The accompanying sketch 
shows its thorny wood, foliage, blossoms, and fruit. The fruit is 
one-half to three-fourths of an inch long; has one to three seeds, 
and is mealy and dry. The character of the plant'suggests its 
adaptation to hedge purposes and possibly its choice of location 
may indicate the proper field for experiment with foreign jujubes, 
the fruit of which may be superior. Such species have already 
been distributed in the State to some extent. 

First in importance among the native nuts of California is 
the California black walnut.-f* The tree is described + as attain- 
ing a height of sixty to seventy-five feet, with a diameter of 
trunk of two to four feet. It is more graceful than the grosser 
English walnut; not so heavy as the great black walnut of the 
West, nor so open, light and airy, as the white butternut of the 
Eastern States. The nut is roundish, somewhat variable in size, 
much smoother than the Eastern black walnut, and the kernel is 
sweeter and of more delicate flavor. The tree prefers deep, 
moist soils, and is usually found along creeks. Its range is 
from the central zone of the State southward to Santa Barbara 
and from there eastward through Southern Arizona into New 
Mexico and Sonora. The nuts, though excellent, are not at pres- 
ent of great commercial account. The tree is a popular shade and 
avenue tree and the root succeeds admirably as a stock for the 
English walnut. 

The filbert of the Pacific Coast § is mentioned chiefly be- 
cause of its relationship to the Eastern and European species, 
which have yielded improved varieties of great commercial 
value. Our species is a shrub from four to twelve feet high and 
two to six inches in diameter. It is of flexile and arching habit; 
suckers, and spreads in moist coast regions, amid half shady 
woods. Its leaf, bloom, and fruit are shown in the accompany- 
ing sketch. The nut is oblong, tightly inclosed in a green husk 
lengthened into a snout or beak, like a narrow-necked flask, 
jagged and ruffled at the lip. The bunches that grow on the ends 
of the twigs seldom perfect more than two or three nuts of inferior 



* Zizj'phus Parrj'i. 

\ Ji'glti'is Calif ornica. 

\ " Kellogg's Forest Trees of California." 

§ Corvlut -rostrata. 



Pine Nuts. 



59 




size and quality.* Our wild species has frequently been men- 
tioned as indicating in its choice of habitat situations suitable 
for the better filberts, hazel or cob nuts, and as probably offering 

stock suitable for grafting on 
the better kinds, but the 
practicability or value of the 
suggestion has not yet been 
demonstrated. 

Our nearest approach to 
a chestnut is the Western 
chinquapin,-]- which occurs 
from Oregon to Monterey, 
and in the Sierra Nevada to 
an altitude of six thousand 
feet. In the northern coast 
counties it becomes a grand 
tree from fifty to one hundred 
and twenty-five feet in height, 
but the most prevalent form 
variety;!; which is a 
shrub of two to six feet, and 
bears abundantly a sweet nut 
with a hard shell like the 
hazel-nut, which it also re- 
sembles some- 
what in shape, 
but is rather 
more pointed. * 

Two classes of 
nuts claim men- 
tion because of 
their importance 
as an article of 
diet with the ab- 
original popula- 
tion. First are 
the pine nuts, ed- 
ible seeds of sev- 
eral species of 
pine.§ These 
nuts are said to 
be a ver>' con- 
The California Fii,I!Ert. 



^Kellogg's " Forest Trees of California." 

+ Cnstanopsis chrysopkylla. 

\ ^'ar. minor. 

S Notably Pinus monophyUa, Coulteri, Sabiniana, Torrcynna, farryamx 



6o California Acorns. 

centrated and sustaining food. They are ground and made 
into "piiion pone," which is described as very nutty, rich and 
delicious, but if fed upon too exclusively the great excess of oil 
produces boils and the like.* Pine nuts are, to a certain ex- 
tent, an article of commerce, and are found in the California 
fruit and nut markets. 

The Indians also use acorns of several species of oak in 
their bread-making. In the California Desert there is an oak 
shrub growing to a height of two to eight feet which bears sweet 
and edible acorns, "f* This species, however, ranges eastward into 
Arizona and not in the main regions of California. The acorns 
used by the Indians are bitter when they first fall from the trees, 
but later on they sweeten. Continuous rains and melting snows 
extract the bitter and injurious principle and leave the farinaceous 
and starchy. The Indian hastens the process by beating off the 
shells and leaving the kernels to leach in excavations made in 
the sand or on mounds of sand, or, if the rains delay too long, 
he soaks the acorns in the running water of the streamlet. The 
Indians store large quantities of acorns for future use. The 
woodpecker places the acorns in holes in the bark, point inward, 
so that the water running down the tree leaves the porous base 
of the nut and thus extracts the bitterness.* 



* Kellogg 's "Forest Trees of California.' 
t Qnerciis undulata, var. pmtgeus. 



CHAPTER V. 

CALIFORNIA MISSION FRUITS. 

Cultivated fruits were first brought into California from 
the South. Mission work among the Indians of Lower Cali- 
fornia was actually begun by the establishment of the mission 
at Loreto by Salvatierra, October 19, 1697. The following 
years horses and cattle were brought from Mexico, and from 
this introduction came ultimately the vast herds which roamed 
the hills and plains of California.* Probably the first seeds and 
plants of cultivated vegetables and fruits came about the same 
time, for there was a small garden and a few fruit trees at Lo- 
reto in lyoi.f But Loreto was not fitted for horticulture, and 
in the same year an expedition in charge of Father Ugarte, 
who is called the founder of agriculture in Lower California, 
crossed over the mountain to a more suitable location at the 
mission of Vigge Biaundo, which had been destroyed some time 
before by hostile Indians. Ugarte restored the mission, made 
irrigating ditches, and planted fruit trees and vines. This effort 
was successful from a horticultural point of view; for in 1707 
Ugarte made more wine than would suffice for mission use, and 
sent some to Mexico ^ in exchange for other goods. Thus be- 
gan the export trade in California wine. 

The Jesuits continued their establishment of missions in 
Lower California until there were fifteen missions, at five of 
which there were vineyards,^ and p_resumably as many or more 
which had gardens with fruit trees. It is recorded that in 1728 
Father Luyando established the northern mission of San Ig- 
nacio, of which was written in 1759: "Exotic plants in that 
barren land throve well; and others, which were native of it, 
throve under his culture."!! Luyando likewise planted vines, 
olive trees, fig trees, and sugar-canes, all of which seem to have 
succeeded, and proved of great service to the mission.*- Fruit 



* HitteU's " History of California,'' Vol. i, p. 177. 

t Loc. cit., p. 190. 

t "Venegas' California" (1757). Vol. i. p. 321. 

S Baegert, cited by Hittell, Vol. i, p. 283. 

il Venegas. 

*\ " Forbes' California" (1839), p. 50. 



(61) 



62 Kinds of Fruit at the Missions. 

culture seems to have early engaged the attention of residents 
of Lower California, aside from the padres ; for accounts of voy- 
ages made during the latter part of the last and the beginning 
of this century, contain mention of the delicious fruits bought 
in the harbors of Lower California, and the pleasant experiences 
of sailors who strayed inland and visited the valley fruit farms. 

The variety of fruits grown in Lower California was small. 
They had figs, oranges, citrons, pomegranates, plantains, and 
some olives and dates. There were no North European fruits, 
with the exception of a few peaches, which, however, did not 
appear to thrive. 

The Jesuits were supplanted in Lower California, in 1768, 
by the Franciscans. The Franciscans, led by Junipero Serra, at 
once pressed northward, and entered the territory which is now 
the State of California. Their first establishment was at San 
Diego, in 1769. Thence they proceeded northward, braving 
rnany perils, and undergoing great hardships, establishing mis- 
sions through the coast region of the State. In all twenty-one 
missions were established, the last at Sonoma, in 1823. The 
late John W. Dwinelle, who gave much attention to the history 
of the missions, said : — 

Gardens, vineyards, and orchards surrounded all the missions, except the three 
northernmost, — Dolores, San Rafael, and Solano, — the climate of the former being 
too inhospitable for that purpose, and the two latter, born near the advent of the 
Mexican revolution, being stifled in their infancy. The other missions, according to 
their latitude, were ornamented and enriched with plantations of palm trees, bananas, 
oranges, olives, and figs, with orchards of European fruits, and with vast and fertile 
vineyards, whose products were equally valuable for sale and exchange, and for the 
diet and comfort of the inhabitants of the missions.* 

KINDS OF FRUIT AT THE MISSIONS. 

It is of no little interest to ascertain how great a variety of 
fruits was grown in these mission orchards. Vancouver, in 1792, 
found a fine orchard at Santa Clara, with apple, peach, pear, 
apricot, and fig trees, all thrifty and promising.-f- He also de- 
scribes at the mission of San Buena Venlura apples, pears, 
plums, figs, oranges, grapes, peaches, and pomegranates.;]: Rob- 
inson described the orchards connected with the Mission of San 
Gabriel as very extensive, having among their trees oranges, 
citrons, limes, apples, pears, peaches, pomegranates, and figs. 
There were also grapes in abundance. § Edwin Bryant noticed 
at San Luis Obispo Mission the orange, fig, palm, olive and grape. 



* " Colonial History of San Francisco," p. 44. 

+ Vancouver, III, 24, cited in Hittell's " History of California," Vol. 2, p. 474. 

; " Fremont's Memoir," p. 14. 

§ Hittell, loc. cit. 



Early Plantings by Randicros. 63 

At the Mission San Jose he found an inclosure of fifteen or 
twenty acres, the whole of which was planted with trees and 
grape-vines. There were six hundred pear trees and a large 
number of apple and peach trees, all bearing fruit in great 
abundance and in full perfection. The quality of the pears he 
found excellent, but the apples and peaches indifferent.* E. S. 
Capron, in a general enumeration of the fruits grown at the 
missions, includes cherries.-f" 

It is impossible to arrive at full statistics of the fruit trees 
and vines in bearing at the period of greatest prosperity at the 
missions. At the time of the secularization inventories were 
made of the mission properties. The statement of the Santa 
Ynez mission includes 987 fruit trees valued at one dollar each ; 
San Fernando, 1,600 fruit trees, valued at one dollar and fifty 
cents each ; San Gabriel, 2,333 ^^'uit trees with no valuation ; 
San Diego, 517 olive trees.;]: 

Early Plantings by Others than the Padres. — 
Though the earlier Spanish population had the example of suc- 
cessful horticulture before them for half a century at the mis- 
sions, they did not seem inclined to emulate the efforts of the 
padres upon their own grounds, except in occasional instances. 
Hittell says : — 

Horticulture and gardening were confined almost exclusively to the missions. 
. . . . Hardly a ranchero or a colonist from San Diego to Sonoma planted a 
fruit tree, and gardening was not attempted except on a very small scale, and only 
for such vegetables as could be produced with very little labor .§ 

The exceptions were, however, notable, and deserve men- 
tion. General Vallejo planted fruit trees in Sonoma Valley as 
early as 1830, and of his place it is said : " It is an old and well- 
cultivated place, well known in all the northern portion of Cal- 
ifornia, while this State was still Mexican territory." Excep- 
tions there were also at the South. The old fruit garden on the 
Cumulos rancho, in Ventura County, has become famous. Fre- 
mont, writing of his observations in 1846, says : — 

Among the arid, brush-covered hills south of San Diego we found little valleys 
converted l)y a single spring into crowded gardens, where pears, peaches, quinces, 
pomegranates, grapes, olives, and other fruits grew luxuriantly together, the little 

stream acting upon them like a principle of life A single vine has been 

known to yield a barrel of wine, and the olive trees are burdened with the weight of 
fruit. "I 



* " What I Saw in California in i846-'7," p. 376. 

t Historj- of California (1854X p. iii. 

J " Bancroft's History' of California," Vol. 3, p. 619, et. set/. 

§ Hittell's " History- of California," Vol 2, p. 474. 

!l " Report California Agricultural -Society,'" 1858, p. 247. 

11 " Geographical Memoir,' p. 39. 



64 Mission Orchards Neglected. 

There was at Santa Margarita an excellent vineyard, owned 
by Fio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California. 

It is written* that scarcely had six years elapsed subse- 
quent to the settlement of the pueblo of San Jose on its present 
site, before the inhabitants were enjoying the benefits of luxuri- 
ous fruits. More was grown than could be disposed of in its 
natural state. It seems that Don Manuel Higuerra had more 
peaches than he could use, and knowing the law, .secured the 
following document from the capital : — 

The individual Manuel Higuerra has permission to make as much as one barrel 
of peach brandy. 

Monterey, loth day of August, 1805. Noriega. 

Decline of the Mission Orchards. — The decline of 
most of the mission orchards an gardens followed the seculari- 
zation of the establishments in 1834. There were some excep- 
tions where the mission lands fell into enterprising Spanish or 
American hands. But as a rule, as Fremont wrote in his obser- 
vations in 1846, "but little remains of the high and various 

cultivation which had been attained at the missions 

Fertile valleys are overgrown with wild mustard; vineyards and 
olive orchards decayed and neglected." 

During the years of neglect, the more tender trees died, 
and the more hardy survived. The pear and the olive vied with 
the vine in withstanding drought and the trampling and browsing 
of the cattle that roamed unmolested through the deserted 
gardens. These pears, as will be described presently, were 
turned to good account by the early American settlers; the olive 
and the vine furnished cuttings for most of the plantations made 
during the first twenty years or more of American occupation. 

Concerning the old olive trees at the Mission San Diego, 
Mr. Frank A. Kimball, of National City, in a paper read before 
the American Horticultural Society, at its meeting during the 
New Orleans Exposition, wrote as follows: — 

In 1869, when this orchard was a century old, I counted 347 trees at the old 
Mission of San Diego, and not a single perfect specimen could be found — a large 
number having been burned to a greater or less extent l)y camp-fires, while the mis- 
sion was occupied by United States soldiers, at the close of the war with Mexico. 
The ancient walls having been broken down, this grove was open on all sides to the 
incursions of herds of cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. Many of the older trees had 
been cut down and used in the mess fires of the soldiers; the tops of many others 
had been cut or broken off and fed to sheep. For so many years had the fruit fallen 
and decayed, the accumulation of pits was so great that a spade could with difficulty 
be forced into the ground. The whole grove was overgrown with malva, and this 
so rank that a man on horseback would be hidden by it; and so full was the ground 
of holes, made by badgers and other animals, that one almost ran the risk of broken 
limbs in riding or even walking over it. 



■ " History of Sail Jose," by Y. Hall (1871), p. gi. 



General Bidiveirs Observations. 65 

This state of things was ahnost instantly changed when the grove passed into- 
the hands of Thomas Davis, under a lease from the Catholic Church; and so profit- 
able did the grove at once become that the lease was terminated for the purpose of 
securing a larger share of the profits, in which the representative of the church was 
not successful, and the orchard was again practically abandoned, but not until half 
the trees had been denuded of every young and thrifty branch. For years past this 
grove has been in the hands of those whose "tender mercies are cruel," and it is 
fast succumbing to the forest of gigantic malva; and to-day the wonder is that there 
exists a monumental olive tree to mark the spot where Junipero Serra laid the 
foundation of the first mission in California, 

Observations by General Bidweix.— General Johrr 
Bidwell, of Chico, favors me with the following notes on his ob- 
servations in the mission orchards during the decade preceding 
the American occupation: — 

The Mission of San Rafael had the best grapes — the "mission" grape, but 
better than elsewhere. It had also apples and pears. 

The Mission of San Jose had an orchard and vineyard, five or six acres per- 
haps. The principal trees were olives and pears. The best early pear was called 
"Pera de San Juan." This mission I first saw in 1841. The trees were mostly 
seedlings, I think, at least the fruit was mostly inferior. 

The largest orchard, as well as the largest trees, mostly pear trees, were at Santa 
Clara and San Jose (now the city of San Jose). There were also grape-vines. All, 
both trees and vines, had belonged to the mission, and were of the kinds found at 
the other missions. 

The .Mission of San Juan Bautista, near Pajaro Valley, had also an old orchard, 
at least a few trees. 

In January and February, 1845, I ^^^ more or less of attempts to raise vines 
and fruit trees at other points, namely. Missions of .San Miguel, San Luis Obispo, 
and .Santa Ynez. The trees, like the missions, were in a condition of neglect and 
ruin. 

-Santa Barbara was better cared for; but the state of all the missions that I saw 
was, to a greater or less extent, that of neglect and decay, including San Buena- 
ventura, San Fernando, and .San Gabriel. 

At the Mission of .San Luis Rey there were orchards and vineyards, but every- 
thing in neglected condition — magnificent ruins, I might say. There were the re- 
mains of olive orchards, even then gone to utter ruin, hundreds of acres in extent. 
Pala and Temecula were dependencies of that gem of a mission. 

The old Mission of San Diego had the finest of olives and pomegranates. 

At the Mission of San Gabriel I found old vineyards and orange orchards, but 
all in a neglected condition. The orange trees had evidently been injured by frost, 
but not perhaps wholly killed. 

The record which General Bidwell makes of the thrift and ex- 
cellence of the fruit at the Mission of San Rafael is especia y 
interesting, because it has been described as lacking in this re- 
spect, by Mr. Dwindle, in a quotation already given. 

But it seems that not all the mission orchards were per- 
mitted to fall into decay after the secularization. In 1846 
Bryant found at the Mission San Jose two gardens inclosed by 
high adobe walls. The area was from fifteen to twenty acres, 
all of which was planted with fruit trees and vines. There were 
about six hundred pear trees and a large number of apple and 
peach trees, all bearing fruit in great abundance, the quality of 

5 



66 Plantings by American Seitlets. 

the pears being excellent, the apples and peaches indifferent.* 
Other visitors to some of the mission orchards between the 
events of secularization and American occupation speak of 
being regaled wiUi pears and milk, a dish which seemed to them 
ambrosial after their weary journeys overland across the deserts, 
or after months of ship fare. 

Plantings of Mission Fruits by Early Settlers. — 
There were quite considerable plantations, chiefly of mission 
grapes and oranges by early settlers in the neighborhood of 
Los Angeles. General Bid well says: — 

In 1845 Los Angeles had the largest vineyards that I had seen, and the vines 
were the most tliiifty. Wine was also abundant, — even the Angelica. Los Angeles had 
orchards also, mostly of oranges. The largest orange orchards at that time (February, 
1845) were those of W'olfskill, Carpenter, and Louis Vigne (known as " Don Aliso," 
from the large sycamore tree standing by his house). The next year (1846) I saw 
oranges growing at Williams' ranch (about thirty miles from Los Angeles), also a vine- 
yard and trees at Ocampo's ranch. Ocampo had wine and brandy which he had 
made. 

Among the early planters of mission fruits in the northern 
part of the State was Yount, who planted vines in Napa Valley 
in 1 838-1- and other fruits later. John Wolfskill, of Winters, saw 
grapes and peaches at Yount's in 1841, and J. M. Pleas- 
ant took peach pits from Yount's over into Pleasant's Val- 
ley, Solano County, 185 1. Dr. Marsh, on his place at the 
base of Mount Diablo, had, according to Bryant, an "exten- 
sive" mission grape vineyard in i846.:[: John Wolfskill visited 
Dr. Marsh in 1842, and tells me that he saw the Doctor's vine- 
yard at that time, and that it was more than an acre in extent, 
and in good bearing. He thinks the vines were planted about 
1838. Mr. Wolfskill planted a few vines on Putah Creek in 
1842, but did not plant fruit trees until about ten years later. 

Partial Revival of the Mission Fruit Gardens. — 
After the incoming of Americans in 1849 some of the old mis- 
sion trees were secured by enterprising men, and made to renew 
their youth by pruning, cultivation, and irrigation, that they 
might minister to the great demand for fruit which sprang up 
among the gold seekers. The trees richly reciprocated the care 
and attention given them. The reports of the Visiting Com- 
mittees of the State Agricultural Society have accounts of the 
new life of these old trees. Two instances are selected: — 

Thomas Fallon, of San Jose, has the best-producing pear trees, probably, in the 
State, having fruit of remarkable size and quantity, many of the pears measuring 
over fourteen inches in circumference. He has four old pear trees, planted by the 



*"What I Saw in California." 

+ "Report California Agricultural Society," 1856, p. 13. 

\ " What I Saw in California," p. 303. 



Old Mission Trees Profitable. 67 

old Spanish missionaries over sixty years ago, and grafted in 1854, witli Bartlett. 
producing three thousand pounds this season, which sold for $600.* 

W M. Stockton, near the Mission San Gabriel, has about three hundred pear 
trees, thirty or forty years old, all of them California seedlings, many of them of 
little or no value, and most of them becoming barren and going to decay. In March, 
185 1, he took the place in this condition, and began to prune and irrigate, both of which 
had been for a number of years neglected. In June of 1854 he began to bud and 
graft, and has continued until this time (1856). Six pear trees have been budded 
and grafted with twenty-five varieties of apples, and seventy pear trees with twenty- 
five varieties of pears. These apples and pears are very choice fruits, large, of ex- 
cellent flavor, and very fine in appearance. One tree of California pears produced 
this season (1856) to the value of two hundred and fifty dollars.t 

The first fruits offered for sale in the San Francisco markets 
were from the pear trees of Santa Clara and San Jose Missions, 
and from the mission grape-vines of the same localities, and of 
Los Angeles County. These grapes, packed in sawdust, came 
up the coast by steamer, and were then re-shipped to the mining 
camps, arriving for the most part in good condition, and 
were very popular. It is recorded that 1,500 tons of these 
grapes were sent from Los Angeles County to San Francisco 
and the mines in 1852.I Another instance in which thrift 
followed neglect is seen in the fact that in 1858 Don Andres 
Pico, who succeeded to possession of the orchard at the San 
Fernando mission, did a considerable business in drying pears 
and other fruits, using the labor of the Indians..§ 

At the present time vestiges of the old mission orchards 
still remain, the pears and olives still bearing, and in some cases 
the old date palms guarding the desolate scenes, or standing as 
reminders of the old regime, while the new life of California is 
surging up around them. 

RUSSIAN FRUITS. 

The second introduction of cultivated fruits to California 
was by the Russians. General Bidwell informs me that he saw 
at Fort Ross, in 1842, about half an'acre of seedling apples and 
peaches, planted by the Russians at some time during their oc- 
cupation of thirty odd years prior to 1841. Edward Mcintosh 
had a small patch of grape-vines near Bodega, in 1842; and at 
that date there was a small vineyard between Bodega and Fort 
Ross, half an acre in extent. This had been planted and owned 
by a Russian gentleman of leisure, by the name of Don Jorge. 
These grapes were said to be of a better variety than those cul- 
tivated at the missions; but though they had borne fruit, yet the 



* " Report California Agricultural Society," 1857, p. 42. 
^ Loc. cit., 1856, p. 20. 

{ J. S. Waite, in " Patent Office Report," 1853, p. 299. 
§ " Report California Agricultural Society," 1858, p. 294. 



68 Russian Introdiiction of Fruits. 

pruning and little attention which General Bidwell was able to 
give were not such as to restore them. The place was too shaded 
by the redwood forest, the soil too wet, grass too luxuriant, deer, 
hare, and cattle too plenty, fences too poor, etc. There was 
afterward a limited distribution of Russian seedling fruits in the 
section contiguous to the Russian settlement, but their contribu- 
tion to the distribution of fruits in California was infinitesimal 
as compared with the achievements of the padres. The Rus- 
sians seemed, however, to have had some desirable varieties, for 
there is now grown in Green Valley, Sonoma County, a medium- 
sized, bell-shaped apple, lightly striped with red, which is called 
the Fort Ross or Russian apple, and was probably propagated 
by grafts from the Fort Ross orchard. 



CH A PTER VI. 
INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVED FRUIT VARIETIES. 

The first cultivated fruits of the old era came to California 
with the padres. The first fruits of the new era came with the 
Amerkan pioneers. Though not a little inquiry has been made, 
it is not yet possible to declare definitely who brought the first 
budded or grafted trees upon California soil, and it is hoped that 
this statement may induce someone to disclose this historic fact, 
which is of much interest in view of our wonderful growth in 
fruit production. Perhaps the first improved varieties of decid- 
uous fruits arrived in 1846. R. M. Lelong, secretary of the Cal- 
ifornia Board of Horticulture, says that it is a tradition in his 
family that his father, the late Martin Lelong, who came to Cal- 
ifornia as a member of Stevenson's regiment, brought with 
him a small lot of French varieties of apples growing in a box, 
and that they were planted in Los Angeles. Some of the trees 
are still standing. The fruit is certainly not of popular Amer- 
ican varieties, but had a superiority over the mission seedlings, 
which led to the use, in the vicinity, of scions from the Lelong 
orchard at a very early date. 

In the fall of 1849 W. H. Nash, now a resident of San 
Francisco, joined with R. L. Kilburn in ordering from a nursery 
in Western New York a small box of thirty-six fruit trees, 
which, packed in moss, well survived the journey around the 
Horn, arriving and being planted in Napa Valley, in the spring 
of 1850. The shipment included Rhode Island Greening, Rox- 
bury Russet, Winesap, Red Romanite, Esopus Spitzenburg 
apples ; Bartlett and Seckel pears; Black Tartarian, and Napo- 
leon Bigarreau cherries. 

Before this introduction of grafted fruit trees, and, indeed, 
for several years afterwards, there were many shipments of fruit- 
tree .seeds from the Eastern States to California. Mr. Barnett, 
of Napa, planted Kentucky seed as early as 1847. T. K. Stew- 
art says that he brought to California with him, in 1848, about 
two hundred pounds of vegetable and fruit seeds, the latter 
including peach, pear, and apple; all of which were planted on 
the American River, within the present limits of Sacramento, 
in the spring of 1849. At the same time he planted figs and 

(69) 



70 Enterprise of Leivelling and Meek. 

olives, and, in 1851, seeds of oranges. From all of these he 
secured bearing trees.* 

But these early efforts at improvement of California fruits 
were but faint forerunners of the zeal and enterprise which 
followed the great invasion by gold seekers. As soon as the 
first thought — to get gold directly from the soil — would admit 
the second — to get it indirectly, by agricultural and horticultural 
arts — there came a demand for something better than the wild 
fruits of the mountains, better and more abundant than the 
fruits from the mission orchards. At first everything in the 
line of fruit-tree seed, which could be obtained, was planted. 
Thus the immediate vicinity of the mines soon began to show 
growing fruit trees. But seedlings of any kind would not satisfy 
the planters, and effort was put forth in every direction after 
grafted trees of the best varieties. Oregon had a few years the 
start of California as an inviting field for immigration, and the 
advantage also of winning the attention of those who went 
out, not as gold seekers, but as agricultural producers. Oregon 
had grafted trees in bearing, and nursery stock as well, about 
the time the demand sprang up for it in California. Its intro- 
duction was then, however, of very recent date. Up to 1847 
the cultivated fruit of Oregon consisted of seedlings introduced 
by the Hudson Bay Company. In that year occurred the first 
considerable, if not the very first, introduction of grafted fruit 
upon the Pacific Coast. The story of that venture has been so 
often wrongly told that it is well to record its interesting inci- 
dents in the words of one quite near to the event, if not 
actually participating in it. Seth Lewelling, of Milwaukee, 
Oregon, writes: — 

In 1847 my brother, Henderson Lewelling, crossed the plains froin Henry 
County, Iowa, to Oregon, bringing with him a pretty general variety of grafted fruits. 
He fitted up a wagon for the purpose, selected small plants, and planted them in 
soil in the boxes, and watered them to keep them alive. He told me that in some 
places he had to carry water a mile, up the mountains, to save his trees. When he 
arrived in Oregon, late in the fall, he had something over three hundred plants alive. 
The same fall William Meek arrived in Oregon with a few varieties of fruit trees. 
He and my brother put their stock together, and commenced the first nursery of 
grafted fruits on the Pacific Coast. It was situated five miles south of Portland, just 
below Milwaukee, on the east bank of the Willamette River. For want of seedling 
stock they could not increase their nursery much until, in 1 850, my brother John 
and I crossed the plains, bringing with us some apple seed, which we planted that 
winter. We also found a gentleman, named Pugh, in Washington County, Oregon, 
who had planted some apple seed in the spring of 1850, which had grown well, and 
we bouglit his stock. During the winter of 1850-51 we put in about twenty 
thousand grafts. In March, 185 1, I went to Sacramento, taking with me a box of 
grafts of apple, pear, peach, plum, and cherry, and sold them in Sacramento. I be- 
lieve I have the honor of being the first to distribute grafted fruit in California. + 



*" Report California Agricultural Society,' 1870, p. 159. 
t Letter to the author, November 17, 1887. 



Other Early Orchardists. yi 

Such is the record of the first large undertaking in supply- 
ing choice fruits to the Pacific Coast, and the first commercial 
venture with such fruits in California. Of the original partners 
in the importation, both settled subsequently in California, 
Henderson Lewelling in 1854, and William Meek in 1859, and 
built up splendid properties near each other, in Alameda 
County. John Lewelling also came early to California, planted 
the famous Beard & Lewelling orchard in 1853, and subse- 
quently was active in other localities. These three honorable 
and enterprising men now " rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them." 

Other Early Introductions. — The introduction of 
grafted trees, for sale by Mr. Lewelling in the spring of 1851, 
was quickly followed by other commercial importations, and by 
shipments by planters for their own use, so that the plantings of 
1851-52 were quite large. Still there was great doubt as to the 
success of the trees. The late G. G. Briggs, after his great 
melon profits of 1851,* went back to New York State for his 
family, and, returning to California, brought with him, as he 
says, "with no idea that they would succeed, but as a reminder 
of home," 50 peach and a few apple and pear trees. To his 
surprise the trees grew well in 1852, and the next year blos- 
somed and bore some of the best peaches he ever saw. The 
pears also bore some fine fruit the same year. He at once or- 
dered 1,400 peach trees from the East, of which 1,000 were lost 
on the steamer Golden Gate, and the 400 arrived, and were 
planted in December, 1853, and bore a crop in 1854, which sold 
at the rate of $[.50 a dozen, and yielded $2,800 from 50 peach 
trees only one year from placing them in orchard. Naturally 
Mr. Briggs extended his operations, bringing 7,000 more peach 
trees in 1854, and, continuing his planting, he had, in 1858, 1,000 
acres in orchard — peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, apficots, 
cherries and plums.-f That year he- noticed the first ill effects of 
the down-flow of mining debris, which finally ruined this splen- 
did property. In 1858 the yield of Mr. Briggs' orchards was 
587,628 pounds of fruit, which sold for sixteen cents per pound. 
The total cost of production and marketing was six cents a 
pound, leaving a net profit of $58,762.:;: In that year Mr. 
Briggs was awarded the gold medal by the State Agricultural 
Society : the first prize for a first-class orchard. The destruction 



» "Report California Agricultural Society,' 1858, p. 169. From twenty-five acres of water melons, 
near Marysville. Mr. Briggs derived a net profit of $17,000. 

t Statement by G. G. Briggs, in " Report California Agricultural Society," 1881, p. 181, it. seq. 
\ Report, 1858, p. 170. 



72 A Wise Comment. 

by debris came upon the property just as it should have reached 
its full production, for the flood of 1861-62 brought down mud 
and slickens upon it to a depth of one to three feet, and drift- 
wood, which broke down and bruised the trees; and, turning his 
back upon the enterprise which should have yielded him im- 
mense rewards, Mr. Briggs sought other fields for planting. The 
history of this orchard is thus briefly sketched, because it was 
one of the most famous of pioneer days. 

Besides the introduction of grafted trees which have been 
mentioned there were others in 1852, for, at a fair held in San 
Francisco in 1853, there were several kinds of apples, grown by 
Isaac A. Morgan, of Bolinas, on trees planted the previous 
year.* Apples were also shown from Napa. David Spence, of 
Monterey, showed the first almonds grown in California.-f Dur- 
ing the winter of 1852-53 the distribution of grafted trees must 
have extended widely over the State. Five dollars for a small 
tree was frequently paid at the nursery of Meek & Lewelling, in 
Milwaukee, Oregon, and the trees were carried overland into the 
mining districts of California, as well as brought to San Fran- 
cisco for distribution through the valleys. 

Doubts Dispelled. — But interesting as are the details of 
the early deeds, too great space cannot be given to them in this 
connection. It is rather upon early methods than men that the 
interest of the present generation will center. At first, though 
there was the testimony of the successful growth of fruits at the 
missions, there seems to have been, as has been stated, much 
doubt as to the fate of extended plantings. But the doubt was 
quickly dispelled. Capron writes : — 

It has been doubted whether the apple and peach would flourish in the State. 
Persons but imperfectly acquainted with the climate have suggested that the heat of 
the dry season is too' great and of too long duration for the perfect development of 
the apple, and the nights too cold for the tender peach; but experiments, which have 
been made with grafts, and with fresh trees transplanted within the last three years, 
show the fallacy of these doubts. Large, fair apples and peaches, of different 
species and of excellent flavor, were gathered, in the season of 1853, from trees and 
grafts but two years old. 

All that is necessary to secure success in this State, in the cultivation of any of 
the fruits which can be grown north of the tropic, is a sufficient knowledge of the 
nature of the several fruit-bearing trees, to be able to select for them favorable loca- 
tions for planting orchards. J 

It is interesting to note how early the secret of success in 
California fruit growing was thus announced. Though we have 



*San Francisco Alta, October 7, 1853. 
t Cali/ornia Farmer, January, 1854. 
t E. S. Capron, " History of California,'' 1854, p. iii. 



Wide Use of Dzvarf Trees. 73 

learned much during the last third of a century, we cannot im- 
prove upon the last sentence, quoted above, as a general propo- 
sition concerning fruit growing in this State. 

Fruit Gardens, not Orchards. — It is interesting to 
note that much of the pioneer effort was expended upon fruit 
gardens, rather than fruit orchards. Two ideas, at least, led in 
this direction. One was the popular thought, which, however, 
was very early found to be erroneous, that frequent and copious 
irrigation was essential to the growth of fruit in this dry climate. 
Another was the ambition, which was correct, both from a hor- 
ticultural and commercial point of view, to secure the fruit just 
as soon as possible, for the double purpose of determining what 
was adapted to the novel conditions, and to secure the mag- 
nificent prices which fruit commanded in the market. For these 
ends, dwarfing stocks naturally suggested themselves, and were 
employed to an extent which seems wonderful when it is re- 
membered that now hardly a fruit tree in the State is worked 
upon a dwarfing stock. Very early, say from '52 to '58, at San 
Jose, Oakland, Stockton, and Sacramento, small areas, which 
would now only be considered respectable house lots, were 
turned to great profit with dwarf pear and apple trees. The 
place of Mr. Fountain, near Oakland, was called, in 1857, " the 
finest orchard of dwarf trees in the State." It consisted of three 
acres set with 1,600 apple and pear trees, all dwarf from root 
grafts, two years old, and four feet high, and most of them in 
good bearing. He started the branches from the ground, prun- 
ing severely, and heading in during the winter. He claimed 
that dwarfinggave him better andlargerfruit.andfromtwoto three 
years sooner than with standard trees. He did not irrigate, but 
plowed frequently, four inches deep up to the first of June. The 
soil was a sandy loam.* J. R. Lowe, of San Jose, a landscape 
gardener, who seems to have laid out many of the fruit gardens 
in his neighborhood, had of his own two acres, upon which, 
" besides his house and barn, were over 24,000 fruit trees — 
cherry, pear, plum, peach, apricot, and nectarine, many of them 
in bearing."-f- More wonderful still in the way of utilizing small 
space was the garden of Thomas Fallon, also of San Jose, 
where there were "on less than twenty feet .square, fifteen pear 
trees of several varieties, bearing more fruit than wood; some 
weighing over two pounds; one limb, eighteen inches long, bear- 
ing twenty-two pears, weighing over one and one-half pounds 
each. The fruit of this little garden of thirty trees sold for 



* " Report California Agricultural Society," 1857, p. 49. 
t Loc. cif., p. 42. 



74 Their Early Abandoiwient. 

$i,6oo; soil a rich, light loam, well cultivated and watered."* 
These statements are not individual reports, but are from the 
reports of " visiting committees " sent out by the State Agri- 
cultural Society, in the years cited. 

But though these dwarf-tree gardens were formally declared 
" to be the fashion," and though the list of stock of one Sacra- 
mento nurseryman, in 1858, included 95 standard and 8,068 
dwarf pear trees for sale, the foundations of the greater orchards 
were early laid upon the basis of standard trees. Thus the 
Briggs' orchard of i,ooa acres, on the moist land of the Yuba, 
was planted with trees sixteen feet apart each way, and Mr. 
Lewelling, and other early planters on the rich lands of central 
Alameda County, adopted about the same distance. 

Quite in contrast, too, with the prevalence of dwarf trees, 
and contemporaneous with it, was the grand plan upon which 
the pioneer of pioneers, General Sutter, laid out his orchard on 
Hock Farm, on the west bank of the Feather River, eight miles 
from its junction with the Yuba, of which the following de- 
scription was written about the time the trees were coming into 
bearing : — 

Several acres were set apart for an ornamental fruit orchard, the trees and 
shrubs being so arranged as to present a unique landscape garden, nearly every ar- 
ticle in which is productive of fruit The arrangement of the fruit trees 

is peculiar; a large portion of them being set on either side of the broad avenues, open- 
ing through the extensive grounds in various directions, imparting to the whole an 
air of picturesque beauty seldom seen.t 

But neither the narrow dwarf-tree garden plan, nor the 
broad landscape-garden plan has survived. Neither of them 
harmonized with the commercial idea of orcharding — large 
production and economy of cultivation, and both are now but 
curiosities of the early horticulture of California. 

Irrigation Abandoned. — The early abandonment of 
dwarf trees suggests also the early abandonment of irrigation in 
the valleys of Northern California as early as 1856. Facilities 
which had been secured for irrigation of orchards were allowed 
to go unused, because it was seen that it was better not to use 
them. One case is reported in Napa County, where means to 
furnish the orchard with 30,000 gallons of water per day were 
allowed to lie idle.J The substitution of cultivation for water, 
of course, attended this reform. The announcement of a prac- 
tice, in 1856, "to plow deep, dig wide and deep holes for plant- 
ing, and work the ground from February to July, allowing no 

* Loc. cit., p. 42. 

t Report, 1858, p. 167. 

}" Report California Agricultural Society," 1856, p. 12. 



Cultivation Instead of Irrigation. 75 

grass or weeds to grow among the trees,"* shows that the 
thorough and clean culture, for which California is famous, is 
not a recent idea in our practice. Even the abandonment of the 
plow, and almost weekly use of the cultivator, was the practice 
of some growers in the San Jose district as early as thirty years 
ago.-f- In fact, the descriptions of orchard management in that 
day include nearly the whole variety of methods which now pre- 
vail. Even the " no irrigation " placards at fruit fairs, which 
have become quite a prominent trade-mark of the northern 
" boom " movement of to-day, were used a generation ago as a 
war-cry between methods instead of localities. 

Early Wisdom and Enterprise. — It is evident to any- 
one who studies the records that California was very fortunate 
in numbering among the early settlers so many men with horti- 
cultural tastes, skill, and experience. The rapidity with which 
fruit trees were multiplied, and the confidence with which these 
early comers entered upon the nursery business, shows their 
training. Although there were many trees brought here from 
the East and from Europe they constituted only a very small 
percentage of the plantings of the first few years, but the or- 
chards, with the exception of a very small number of trees 
introduced to furnish grafting and budded stock, were theprod- 
uct of the soil. When this is borne in mind it becomes all the 
more wonderful how so much could be done in a new country, 
in a distant part of the world, in so very short a time. It 
was an observation which was put upon record as early as 1856, 
that "some varieties of fruit are much improved by change to 
this State, and some are not benefited." The test seems to have 
been that if a variety was not better here than at the East, it 
should be discarded. 

The behavior of the fruit trees which they planted in Cali- 
fornia was a surprise to the experienced horticulturists who 
planted them. The problems which arose in their minds are 
very interesting to recall, and fortunately some of these are re- 
corded in the report of the Convention on Fruits, at the State fair 
of 1857. The committee was composed of seven, and some of 
their names have become famous in our horticultural annals. 
The following is an extract from their report: — 

It is well known to all who have followed fruit growing as a business, that the 
first crop on a young tree will often vary very much f^rom the original type. Just so 
in California where that business is yet in its infancy. It is true general characteristics 
can almost always be detected, but there is such a wonderful tendency (we cannot 
call it anything else) to redundancy ; such extraordinary bearing, young trees of three 



*Loc. cit, p. 12. 

t Report, 1857, p. 43. 



76 



California Fruit a Surprise. 



and four years sustaining such abundant crops of large, heavy fruit, and the richness 
of flavor also keeping pace with the prolific character of the trees and the extraor- 
dinary size of the fruit, especially of apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, etc., 
that at first sight it is no wonder their old friends hardly know that this tendency to 
precocious bearing and extraordinary size of some specimens of apples, pears, 
peaches, etc., in the first crop on young trees is not entirely peculiar to California; 
and many have been anxiously watching for the last two or three years to see if, as 
the trees advance more toward maturity, they show any tendency to fall back in their 
size, crop, and flavor, to their common character in their old Eastern home. But 
hitherto no such tendency is observable, except in some few cases, where improper 
management, bad culture or overbearing, has evidently been the cause. Wherever 
the trees have been well cared for and not allowed to over-bear, the great increase of 
size and richness is still apparent, and every year adds testimony that all the varieties 
of apples, pears, peaches, plums, etc., will have in this country a decided California 
character, viz., largeness of size, increase of weight, brightness and richness of color 
and sweetness of flavor.* 



Space will not admit a full review of the facts upon which this 
deliberate decision of the committee was based. It must suffice 
to cite a few striking instances of precocity of trees and size of 
fruit, which, as the report of the committee shows, the early 
growers were slow to accept as permanent characteristics of 
California fruit. The following are a few examples, taking only 
those in which the facts are vouched for by examining com- 
mittees. A leading member of thesecommittees was the Secretary 
of the State Agricultural Society, now so well and widely known 
as Rev. O. C. Wheeler, LL.D., of Oakland. The facts compiled 
below are not greater than facts which many ineet in the ex- 
perience of growers to-day, except that pioneer fruit values are 
of course gone forever. The statements are given to show how 
early the greatness of California in the fruit line was made known, 
and to enable the reader of to-day to judge upon what basis the 
fame of California as a fruit country went forth. It is little 
wonder that the statements were received with incredulity: — 

Instances of Size and Weight. 



Date. 


Kind of Fruit. 


Where grown . . . 


Weight. 


Size. 


185^.. 


Gloria Mundi apple . .. 
Carolina Red June. . . . 

Winesap 

Rambo 

W. W. Pearmain 

Pound pear 

do 

Winter Nells pear. .. 
Duchesse d'Angoulgme 


Santa Clara 
Mission San Jose 

do 

San Jose. 

Mission San Jose 

do 

do 
Sacramento. . . 


2 lbs. 3 J oz.. 
I lb. ij oz . . 


17 in. circumference each way. 
gj by loi in. in circumference. 
9I by \o\ in. in circumference. 
12 in. circumference each way. 
loj by 12 in. in circumference. 
I si by 20j in. circumference. 

12J in. circumference each way. 
15 in. circumference each way. 
i4i by 13} in. in circumference. 






2 lbs. 125 oz. 

3 lbs. 7 oz. . . 
I lb. f 02. . . . 
2lbs 






Quince 


Los Angeles. . . 





* Report of Wm. Daniels, B S. Fo.\, J. D. Morey, L. A. Gould, Jas. Bell, E. B. Bateman and 
J. L. Burtis, " California Agricultural Society," 1857, p. 59. 



Early Records Condensed. 
Instances of Precocity of Trees and Vines. 



77 



Date 


Kind of Fruit. 


Locality. 


.\ge. 


Manifestation. 


iSsv 


Porter apple 


Mis'n San Jose 


Graft I year old . 


'8 apples. 




Apples 


Bolinas 


2 year old tree 


16 apples. 


1856. 


Pear (Duchesse 
d'Aneouleme, . 


Stockton . . . 


15 mos. from bud . 


Mature fruit (worked on quince). 




Plum on peach. 


Sacramento . . . 


5 mos. from bud . . 


Growth, main stem, 13 ft. high; laterals, 
average, 3 ft. 




Peach trees 


do 


5 mos. from bud . 


Growth, 7V2 in. around, formed fine head. 




Figs 


Putah Creek.. 


5 years old. ..... . Trees nearly two ft. around, and bearine 










abundantly. 




Grapes 


San Jose. . . 


7 mos. from graft. 


Scion from France, in Mission vine, bear- 
ing five clusters. 




Bartlett graft . . . 


do 


18 mos. from graft 


Bearing pears, 13 and 14 in. in circumfer- 




Duchesse graft . . 


do 


do 


Pears ii}^ in. around. Quince stock. 




Peach 


do 


2 years from bud. 
4 years from bud . 


Trees 6 in. in diameter, 6 in from ground. 
450 trees yielded 2,000 baskets. 




Peach 


Napa 




Pear 


do 


iS years old 


4 ft. 3 in. in circumference. 


1^57- 


Pear (Duchesse) 


San Jose 




Tree, 3^^ feet high, 28 pears, each weigh 
ing over i pound. 




Pear and apple . . 


Oakland 


2 yrs. from bud . . 


4 ft. high, and in good bearing(on quince). 




Peach 




28 mos. from pit. . 


Bore 34 peaches, weighing 7 to 8 oz. each. 




F>g 




.^pr. ist slip I foot 


September following slip had grown to a 
height of II ft. 6 in. 


i8s8. 


Mulberrj- . 


Shasta 


16 mos. from seed 


Fruit. 




Apple 


Tower House. 
Shasta . . . 


31^ yrs. from seed 


Bore first crop July; .second crop August; 
third crop killed by frost when size of 
walnuts. Apples of first and second 
crops averaged 12}^ in. circumference. 




Same tree 


Tower House 


4 '4^ yrs. from seed 


Bending with weight of fourth crop. 




Apple 


Tower House 


2 yrs. from seed. . ' Bearing a number of apples. 




Apple graft 


Santa Clara. . . 


4 mos old 3 well-developed apples. 




Apple 


San Jo.se .... 


I yr. from graft.. 16 good-sized, fully-developed apples. 




Grape (Chasselas 


do 


2 yrs. from cutting 14 feet high; many large bunches of fruit. 




Pear (Bartlett). 


do 


4 yrs. from .graft. . i Standard tree on pear stock: 711 pears. 



Early Receipts from Fruit Crops. 



Locality. 



1S54. 
1856. 



Crop. 



Area. 



Weight. 



[Marysville Water-melons 25 acres Net receipts... 

From Oregon .... Apples j 200 lbs 

From Oregon ...Apples 40 bushels ... , 



jLos Angeles 

San Jose 

lone, Amador Co. 
do 

Sonoma 

do 



Oranges ( One i8-yr. ok 

( Seven trees netted 



old tree . 

i netted. . . . |. 
400 two and three-yr. old' . 



1857 .Putah Creek. 



Apples. 

Melons* • [ 

Vegetablest 17 acres j ...... .'. 

Peaches 200 trees ! 37,000 lbs 

Cherries 2 trees [ 



Apricots 

Strawberries.. 



Oroville ... 

Santa Clara Strawberries 

I Oakland . . .. [Raspberries 

j do (strawberries 

iMar>'sville 'Various tree fruits 



6 trees 2,000 lbs. 



5 acres 

1,800 plants 

3J acres over 4 tons. 

IS acres '26,000 lbs. . 

537.628 lbs. 



Cash Rec'pt. 



$17,000 

500 

2,500 

X20 
700 

7^0 

$i.co each. 

2,500 

46,250 

178 

1,500 

2,500 

700 

2,200 

7,120 

94,020 



* Selling from July to Novembei 
t At $1.25 per lb. 



!r at 75c. 



78 The Demand Early Exceeded. 

The First Over Supply. — The wonderful stimulus 
given to the fruit interest by the results attained in growth and 
in marketing, soon induced larger plantings than the demand 
Avarrantcd. In 1857 it was publicly stated that "there are single 
farms in this State, containing each over half a million fruit-trees 
in orange and nursery — one person owning enough trees, when 
fully matured, to produce as much fruit, other than grapes, as 
will be sold this year throughout our State. The day is not far 
distant when fruit will be an important crop for raising and fat- 
tening swine."* This was to a certain extent a statement of a 
croaker, for plantations continued, rare varieties were brought 
from the East, the South, and from Europe; the growth of some 
fruits continued to be very profitable, and the nursery business, 
confined to fewer hands, was profitable also. The idea that 
quality rather than size should be striven for, led to more dis- 
crimination in propagation and better treatment of trees. 

The decade from 1858 to 1868 was one of quiet in the fruit 
interest of California. Many of the too hastily and carelessly 
planted trees died from lack of proper cultivation and pruning, 
and the borer wrought sad havoc. In i860 and 1861 there was 
serious depression. It is recorded that peaches were worth but 
one cent a pound and many were allowed to go to waste as not 
worth gathering. The flood of 1862 destroyed many trees along 
the Sacramento River, and replanting was slow until prices 
began to improve, as the.y did soon afterward. •[* The rapid de- 
velopment of the mining interest in Nevada, and the construc- 
tion of roads across the Sierras, opened the way for the disposi- 
tion of much fruit grown in the foot-hills and in the region 
around Sacramento. 

The imports of dried and canned fruits were large and 
growers were exhorted to take steps to secure this trade for 
themselves. Something was done in this direction, for by 1867 
the local product of canned fruit was equal to the demand.^ 
Drying did not advance so fast, for two years later there were 
imports of six thousand barrels of dried apples, while the hun- 
dreds of thousands of bushels of the fruit were rotting under 
the trees in our orchards. § 

The decade under review was also notable for the first ap- 
pearance of cured raisins and prunes at the State Fair of 1863. 
The raisins were from the Muscat of Alexandria grape, and the 
report states that so-called raisins exhibited previous to that 

*" Report Agricultural Society," 1857, p. 103. 
tZoc, c?V., 1871, p. 459. 
XLoc, cit., 1867, p. 35. 
S Report, 1869, p. 22. 



Rise and Progress of Eastern Ship]nent. 79 

time were merely dried grapes.* Dr. J. Strentzel, of Martinez, 
was the first exhibitor of Muscat raisins, and he exhibited also 
dried grapes of four varieties to show the contrast between a 
raisin and a dried grape. J. R. Nickerson, of Placer County, 
exhibited the dried prunes, which were of the German variety.* 
Though this decade was one of uncertainty and doubt, there 
were rich lessons of experience learned, and the foundations for 
coming greatness were well laid. 

The New Era. — Another era in California maybe marked 
as beginning with the year 1869, because then the first fresh 
fruits were sent East over the newly opened overland line. This 
period of our growth is too recent to warrant prolonged discus- 
sion. The incidents, many of which are not pleasant to recall, 
are within the memory of many. The first season's shipments 
amounted to thirty-three tons of pears, apples, grapes, and 
plums; in 1870 seventy car loads, or about seven hundred tons, 
were sent. Alluding to these shipments, in an address before 
the State Agricultural Society, in 1871, Mr. C. W. Reed, of Sac- 
ramento, said : " The business of shipping green fruit should 
increase until we can send 1,000 car loads annually from Califor- 
nia." Mr. Reed has lived to see this limit far exceeded, as the 
following statement, furnished by the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company, of the shipments for the series of years, with the 
"average line rate" of freight charged per pound, will show.-|- 

The following table will serve as a good indication of the 
recent rapid advancement of the fruit interest of California, 
though of course it does not cover our aggregate product, nor 
even our surplus product, for shipments are also made by sea to 
near and distant points. 

The Eastern shipments of fresh fruits began its new era 
with the year 1886, in which the California Fruit Union was 
organized by fruit producers to secure freer shipments and 
wider distribution. Both by its own shipments and by those of 
outside shippers, who were stimulated into new activity by this 
movement of growers in their own interest, the aggregate for 
the year was increased over that of previous years. In this 
year, also, the first full train load of fifteen cars of fresh fruit from 
deciduous trees went overland. Shipping train loads of oranges 
from Southern California began at an earlier date. 



* Report California Agricultural Society, 186;?, p. 88. 

t By " average line rate " is meant the total charge for freight to the Missouri or Mjssissipp 
Rivers, divided by the pounds shipped for the season, either by slow freight ot passenger train. 
The statement for green fruit includes oranges. 



8o 



Present Extent of the Industry. 



Shipments of California Fresh and Dried Fruits. 



Yea r. 



Fresh Frl'its. 



Pounds. Rate. 



1871.. 

1872.. 
1873.. 

1874.. 
1875.. 
1876. . 
1S77.. 
1878. . 
1879.. 
1880.. 
1881.. 
1882.. 
18S3. . 
1884. . 
1885.. 
1886. . 
1887.. 
1888. . 



i,832,3ioj$3 38 

2, 
2 

5' 



039,972 
896,530 
029,840! 
993»72o 
201,730 
818,310 
,866,420 
126,400! 
,i4i,5oo| 
248,300] 
i9i9o40| 
,222,580; 
996,070 
386,740 
665,650 
732,990 
,741,670 



Dried Fruits. 



Pounds. 



548,227 

630,770 

730,710 

259,170 

1,761,750 

412,480 

2,074,420 

4,532,350 

3,097,950 

2,103,350 

5,794,160 

6,113,970 

16,648,520 

19,759,140 



\2 50, 

2 50 

2 50 

2 50! 

2 00; 

2 00; 

2 OOl 

2 00 

2 00 

I 50 



68,440 

239,260 

192,890 

942,770 

669,660 

1,490,320 

868,770 

295,050 

3,150,290 

6,203,340 

12,970,800 

15,976,500! 

16,884,570; 



Canned Fruits. 



Pounds. Rate. ; Pounds 



^281 
I 75 

I 75 
I 75 
I 75 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
I 50 
I 25 
...t 
...t 
I 13 



182, 

678, 

457, 

759, 

1,529, 

1,731, 

1,700, 

3,111, 

6,707, 
18,768, 
25,163, 
26,397, 
21,695, 
28,949, 
30,636, 
56,009, 
39,281, 



Rate. 



I 50 
I 50 
I 50 
I 50 
I 50 



090^ $3 51 

580 ± 00 

290 

040! 

910 

530 

930 

680 

650 

200 

190 

700 

740 

380 

710 

130 

340 



I 50 
I 50 
I 50 
I 
I 



50 

25 

I 25 

I 16 

. ..t 

...t 

94 



tXhe average rates for the years 1886 and 1887 are not given because the war of rates prevailing 
between transcontinental lines in those years would make the average unduly low. The range for 
dried fruit during that period was $1.15 to $.57^; for canned fruit, $1.25 to $.62^; and for raisins, 

$1.30 to $.65. 

The Fruit Interest in 1888. — The fruit interest is being 
most rapidly extended. The disposition to plant fruit trees is 
as active as ever, and nurseries are well emptied of desirable 
stock. The wine-grape interest is not at the moment extend- 
ing, because of the low prices of the last two years. The remedy 
is in the wider popularization and distribution of California 
wines, and this is being zealously striven for by producers. 

There are no authoritative figures of the present fruit 
acreage and productions of the State, but the following may aid 
in forming an idea of the facts: 

CALIFORNIA FRUIT STATISTICS OF 1888. 

Fresh fruit shipped overland (net weight) lbs. 43,000,000 

" " dried, including raisins " 120,000,000 

" " canned (1,600,000 cases) " 70,400,006 

" " used for 17,000,000 gallons wine " 221,000,000 

Total number fruit trees growing March I, 1888 13,000,000 

" " acres grape-vines growing March I, 1888 145,000 

As Stated above, these figures are but approximations, 
and the local consumption by one and a quarter millions of fruit- 
eating people is not included. The State should provide for ac- 
curate statistics of all her rapidly growing industries. There 
should be data for noting the steps of the advance which 
promises to make all present achievement appear but little more 
than a suggestion of the real industrial development of Cali- 
fornia. 






f7^ 



lj„/.:|, 



"^ t^tMV 



3a^.^'>^^ 









Part Second: Cultural 

C H AFTER VII. 

CLEARING LAND FOR FRUFL 

The greater part of tlie orchard and vineyard area of tliis 
State was naturally almost clear for planting. The removal of 
large trees which paid the cost of the work in fire-wood, or the 
grubbing out of willows on some especially rich bottom land, 
was about the extent of clearing which our earlier planters had 
to undertake, and by far the greater part of them perhaps never 
had to lift an ax. Even now, aside from the development of 
the foot-hill country, very much of the land which is going into 
orchard is open grain field and the vine planters have done the 
greater part of the clearing, as they find the warm hillside espe- 
cially adapted to the grape. Still there has always been some 
clearing done, here and there, even since the earliest days, and 
now that hill lands are being sought out by settlers, and their 
peculiar value for some fruits is being more generally recognized, 
it is to be expected that far more clearing will be done in the 
next few years than in all the history of California up to this 
time, and it is not unlikely that some of this reclaimed land will 
be regarded in the future as among the most valuable fruit lands 
in the State. 

The lands which need clearing are in the main the foot-hill 
slopes of the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. In the 
South there is besides, sometimes, the debris of the desert flora 
to clear away when water is secured and the rich wilderness is 
subdued. This work is, however, so easily accomplished that it 
hardly rises to the dignity of "clearing" as understood by the 
Eastern mind. 

GROWTHS CHIEFLY ENCOUNTERED IN CLEARING. 

Although it will not be worth while in this connection to 

enumerate all of the great variety of shrubs and trees which the 

settler lays low in his clearing, it will be interesting, perhaps, to 

designate a few which constitute the bulk of the growth and are 

6 (Si) 



82 California Oaks. 

most frequently alluded to in conversation. The grand trees 
which figure most largely in lumbering operations are not in- 
cluded because they are not met with as a rule in foot-hill clearings. 
The trees which the settler encounters are rather the degraded 
valley growths which, though assuming grand proportions in the 
valleys, become "scrubs" amid the harsher environment of the 
hillsides. This is notably true of the oaks and of some other 
trees. 

The Oaks. — Our grand white oak i^Querais lobata), a large, 
stately tree, is common throughout the State, both in the valleys 
and on the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, and in the southern 
part of the State reaches even higher up the sides of the mount- 
ains. The blue or rock oak {Q. Doiiglasii) is smaller than the 
preceding, and limits its habitat to the foot-hills of the Coast and 
Sierra Nevada Ranges in the central zone of the State. The 
live-oaks {^Q. chrysolepsis and Q. Wis/iseni) are among our largest 
oaks, but become low shrubs at higher altitudes. This is also 
true of our black oak {Q. Kelloggii or Sononiensis); this and the 
post oak [0,. Garrya7ia), which is associated with it, are the 
species that give the settler his hardest work because of their 
abundance on the Coast Ranges. The former also occurs 
on the western side of the Sierra Nevada, where it is often 
reduced to a shrub. Another black oak which suffers similar 
degradation is Q.agrifolia, though in this case the shrubby form 
is classed as a variety, vyhich is but three to five feet high, while 
the true species maintains much of its dignity wherever it is 
found. It is limited to the coast region and multiplies south of 
San Francisco, though occasionally found northward to Mendo- 
cino County. It is classed as an evergreen oak, though it has a 
way of losing most of its leaves before the new spring growth 
appears. The evergreen white oak, or live-oak, of San Diego 
and Los Angeles Counties {Q. oblongifolia^ extends its area 
eastward to New Mexico and southward. The tan bark oak 
{Q. densiflora), and the chestnut {Castaitopsis cJirysopJiylla) or 
chinquapin, also occur in the fruit belt, often reduced to mere 
low shrubs. There are other oaks which the settler is apt to 
meet, as the botanists name about fifteen species as existing in 
California; the ones mentioned are, however, those most likely 
to be encountered. 

The Conifers. — Though the Pacific Coast is rich in coni- 
fers, there are only a few species, comparatively, which confront 
the tree or vine planter, because the range of the others is outside 
the fruit belts. The species which cling to the sea-coast, or the 
others which delight in the higher mountains, need fear only the 



Other Trees Removed in Clearing. 83 

seeker for fuel or timber. Along the Coast Ranges from San 
Luis Obispo northward are the redwoods {Sequoia senipervirens)\ 
and southward to San Diego, the California juniper {Jnniperus 
Californica), the latter, a stout tree from twenty to twenty-five 
feet in height. Occasionally too in the Coast Ranges one finds 
the arbor vitae {Thuya gigantea) and the white cedar {Liboccdrus 
decurrens), in lands to be cleared. The firs choose a higher 
elevation, but the Douglas spruce {Pseudotsuga Douglasii) is 
abundant, and the hemlock spruce ( Tsuga Mertensiana) somewhat 
rarer in the Coast Ranges north of the bay of San Francisco. 
The pines too are for the most part out of the region of the fruit 
grower, except the small, knobby-cone pine {Pinus tJiberculata), 
which occurs in the Coast Ranges from the north to south and 
also on the Sierra Nevada, and is called the scrub pine of Cali- 
fornia. The Digger pine {Pinus Sabiniand) is the conifer, which 
the land clearer most frequently has to contend with, both in 
the foot-hills of the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. This 
is the tree which the late B. B. Redding spoke of as a .sort of 
indicator of foot-hill fruit land, as it does not grow in the valley, 
nor higher up the mountains than fruit trees may be expected 
to flourish. Another species similar to this is the great cone 
pine {Pinus Coulteri). It has, however, thicker, stiffer branchlets 
and leaves and occurs in the Coast Ranges from Monte Diablo 
to the southern boundary of the State. ^„j,^.^.^, .^ --.^ 

Other Trees. — Among trees less dignified than the fore- 
going, but in many cases more abundant, may be mentioned the 
California buckeye {^-Esculus Californica), a fine, large, symmet- 
rical tree in the valley, but usually on the hills a shrub ten to 
fifteen feet high, which occurs all through the fruit belt of the 
Sierra foot-hills and on the Coast Range from San Luis Obispo 
northward. Also abundant in the Coast Ranges, but less fre- 
quent in the Sierra foot-hills, is the madrone {Arbutus Menziesii\ 
which is usually a small tree or shrub south of San Francisco, 
but a large tree northward. The same is true of the mountain 
laurel or spice tree, often called the California laurel or Cali- 
fornia olive {Umbellularia Californica); it occurs on the uplands 
all through the State, but is smaller on the Sierra than on the 
Coast Ranges and in the South than in the North. Common 
on the hills also are the alders, species of ^/w?/^-, peculiar to this 
coast and yielding hard wood for fuel, and occasionally the 
broad-leafed maple {Acer macrophyllum). Along the streams are 
the California box elder or soft maple (Negundo Californicum), 
the Pacific yew {Taxus brevifolid), and upon bottom-lands 
everywhere many species of willow, the clearing of which has 



84 CJiaDiisal and Chaparral. 

yielded some of the most famous fruit lands in the State. The 
bottom-lands in the interior parts of the State also grow cotton- 
woods of several species, the local sycamore {Platanus raceinosa), 
the ash {Fraxiiins Oregana), and a tangled thicket of native 
grape-vines. 

Chamisal and Chaparral. — Of true shrubs to be re- 
moved, it will only be possible to name a few of the most 
abundant. The common vaAr\zi{.nhdi{Arctostaphy/os viansaiiita) 
occurs on dry ridges everywhere, both on the coast and at 
great elevations, sometimes only growing a few inches from 
the ground, sometimes rising eight or ten feet. Next to 
this, perhaps, the two terms which the land clearer has most 
to use are " chaparral " and " chamisal." They are some- 
times used rather indiscriminately, as to botanical applica- 
tion, and are made to comprehend the greater part of all the 
underbrush which the settler has to contend with. To dis- 
tinguish between them it may be said, however, that the term 
chamisal properly applies to the sYwnh Adenostoma fasciciilatiun, 
var. obtusifolijcm, which is abundant on dry soils in the Coast 
Ranges and more rarely in the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, 
often covering extensive areas with dense and almost impenetra- 
ble growth, producing an effect on the landscape like that of the 
heaths of the Old World. Another species, A. sparsifolhini, 
with narrow, scattered leaves, is sometimes abundant on the 
mountains east of San Diego. 

By chaparral is generally meant shrubs of several species of 
Ceanot/ms, forming dense thickets and giving its name to certain 
soils on which it most abounds, both in the Sierra foot-hills and 
the hill-sides of the Coast Range, where it is known as California 
lilac. The genus includes the "flat brushes," as they are called, 
from their trailing on the ground, or low horizontal shoots. 

Other Small Growths. — Shrubs of frequent occurrence 
also are the poison oak {Rh2is diversiloba) chiefly on the north 
sides of hills in all parts of the State but most abundant in the 
Coast Ranges, and other species of Rhus which are not poison- 
ous; the hazel nut [Corylus rostratd), which has been mentioned 
in the chapter on wild fruits; the buckthorns, of which several 
species are well distributed on the hillsides and mountains of 
the State, and one {^Rhammis Californicd) has achieved a fleet- 
ing local reputation as " California coffee." 

In some parts of the State there are also large areas of 
sage-brush or wormwood made up of several species of Artemisia, 
sage or chia, two species of Salvia, and the famous white and 
black sages of the bee-keepers, which are species of Aiidibertia, 



Cost of Clearing. 85 

occurring chiefly on the mountains of Soutlicrn CaUfornia. 
Add to these the spireas, the azaleas, the rhodendrons, the 
sweet-scented shrubs {Calyca7itJiiis), etc., and include nearly all 
the wild fruit trees, bushes and vines mentioned in a previous 
chapter, and one will gain the idea that though California is 
widely considered a bare State, the land clearer has a host of 
plants confronting him and disputing his right to the soil. 

COST OF CLEARING. 

The cost of clearing on the foot-hill slopes of the Sierra 
Nevada and the Coast Ranges is too variable to admit of esti- 
mates except such as may be made on the spot by experienced 
persons. The cost varies, of course, according to the density of 
the growth of trees and underbrush, and the rate of wages to be 
paid. Though in some cases higher cost is reached, probably as 
a rule the expense of clearing will be from $5.00 to $30 per acre, 
less whatever the fire-wood might be worth. In exceptional 
cases, where there is large growth and a good wood market 
near by, the wood may pay the expense or more; even the roots 
of chaparral sell in our cities at $3.00 or $4.00 per cord. It 
sometimes happens that charcoal can be produced to advantage; 
in fact, there are now orchards upon land which was secured in 
the first instance for the charcoal to be made upon it. Usually, 
however, the clearing is an item of expense and must be reduced 
as much as possible by working in the most economical and 
effective way. 

Though in most cases of clearing by the actual settler him- 
self, the problem is merely one of muscle and persistence, some 
few hints may be given from the experience of others which may 
be useful. Spare time during the summer and fall can often be 
used to advantage with a sharp ax in trimming up the smaller 
-trees, which are large enough to yield fencing material, and get- 
ting out posts from the redwoods and oaks, and rails and pickets 
from the pines. By thus using the waste material the settler 
can often get out enough fencing material to inclose his land 
and thus save considerable expense. Brush, too, which cannot 
be made use of can be lopped off— in short, all the sharp ax 
work can be done in a dry time. The actual clearing, however, 
should be done in the winter, when the ground is wet and soft, 
and digging is ea.sy or "snaking" out is possible. 

PARTIAL AND THOROUGH CLEARINGS. 
Orchards are planted on both partially and thoroughly 
cleared land; by the former practice clearing enough is done to 
give space for the tree holes, \.\\q^ debris is burned up, and the trees 



86 Partial and Complete Clearings. 

planted. In this kind of work the stumps are left to be taken 
out at a convenient season, the object being to get the tree to 
growing as soon as possible. Where one is working with little 
more than his own muscle, and has no capital, this sort of plant- 
ing is better, perhaps, than not planting at all, but it must be 
borne in mind that all subsequent work will be done at a great 
disadvantage, and as cultivation is likely to be very imperfect, it 
would be a question whether in the end anything would be 
gained by such a plan. The encumbered character of the 
ground will, of course, prevent the use of the horse in cultivation 
until most of the stumps are removed. Aside from this, decay- 
ing stumps and roots in the soil often kill the young trees; espe- 
cially is this the case with old oak stumps. 

Clearing of land for orchard or vineyard is a very different 
thing from clearing for pasture, as is done in the redwood region 
of the northwest Coast Ranges of the State, where the stumps 
are untouched, the trees not taken by the lumberman are girdled 
and left a prey to decay and storms, and the brush slashed and 
burned every few years to prevent it from completely taking 
possession of the land. Clearing for fruit should be thorough, 
everything which will interefere with good cultivation removed, 
roots grubbed so that as little shooting up as possible is secured, 
the ground evened up to obviate standing water, and, where 
needed, arrangements made for irrigation and drainage, as will 
be considered later. 

REMOVAL OF TREES. 

The first operation in clearing will be the removal of the 
trees. This can be partly done in the dry season if one has un- 
employed time. In such case the tree is felled and worked up 
into fire-wood and the stump left for subsequent treatment when 
the ground is moist. Unless there is idle time to employ, the 
whole work can, however, be better done in the winter, for then 
the top of the tree may be made to help pull out its own roots. 
This is done sometimes by digging out the soil and cutting off 
the main lateral roots below the depth to which the plow will 
reach. By thus reducing its anchorage the tree will topple over 
or may be pulled over with a team and tackle and bend out its 
stump quite effectively. 

A Steam Puller. — An arrangement for tearing out trees 
without digging was invented in 1886, by Mr. J. H. Coope, of the 
Ren Lomond Vineyard, of Santa Cruz County, which is said to 
handle redwood trees up to four feet in diameter successfully. 
It consists of a portable engine and a " puller," which is a wind- 



Steam and Powder in Clearing. 87 

lass operated by steam, from which a wire cable is carried to 
the tree which is to be pulled down. The following account* is 
pronounced correct by Mr. Coope: — 

A strong chain is put around the tree at a distance above the ground proportioned 
to its diameter in such a way as to give the necessary leverage. This is a nice point 
and one requiring experience and judgment, since a mistake may cause the trunk to 
break above the roots. The immensely strong hook at the end of the cable is at- 
tached to this chain and the word given to the man at the engine, who adjusts the 
machinery of the " puller " so that the cable is slowly wound upon the reel. The 
coil begins to grow taut, the great bole of the tree seems to shiver through its entire 
length, a dull creak and strain is heard as the roots begin to be torn from the earth. 
So perfectly is the machinery adjusted that the tree may be instantly stopped at any 
point of its descent. Two chains are used, a second tree being prepared while the 
first is falling, that no time may be lost. The cable is detached from the falling tree 
and a horse draws it from amid the debris of fallen foliage to the next victim. The 
extraction of roots by this method of pulling is said to be very complete and the 
earth loosened to a considerable depth. 

The Use of Powder. — The most available means for the 
removal both of stumps and of growing trees, and which has 
come into quite wide use during the last few years, are the high 
explosives invented for the use of the miners. The skillful 
employment of dynamite, Judson powder, Hercules powder, or 
Vigorit powder, has vastly cheapened the clearing of lands 
where either large trees or stumps have to be removed. For 
example, the usual rate paid on Howell Mountain, in Napa 
County, for grubbing out black oak stumps was from $1.00 
to $4.00, and for pine from $2.00 to $6.00, according to size. 
An expert blew out one hundred and thirty-two stumps for 
$128, or less than $1.00 each, and some were so large that it 
would take several days grubbing to get them out by the old 
method. -|- During the last two or three years the use of powder 
for this purpose has become so common that it is no longer 
experimental. The experience of the blasters is that there is 
not more danger connected with the operation than in handling 
ordinary firearms, and possibly less. The manufacturers of 
these explosives furnish full printed instructions as to the safe 
and efifective use of them, but it will be worth while in this con- 
nection to give a few indications of the nature of the operation. 
Either in the case of a stump or a tree it is necessary to get the 
charge of powder as nearly under the center as possible. Some 
have used inch-and-a-half augers lengthened out to about three 
feet, and have bored into the tap-root of the tree or stump. 
This is quite a laborious operation and seems from the ex- 
perience of others to be unnecessary. If the charge is placed 
well under and alongside the tap-root it answers just as well. 



*^a.\\\.3rCTUz Coiirier-Ite/ii, March 19, 1887. 
John Mavity, in Pacific Riirtii Press, March'io, 18S4. 



88 Method of Using Explosives. 

I'^or this purpose a hole can be made with a bar. If the tree or 
stump is very large, say upwards of six or eight feet in diameter, 
it is advisable to slip a cartridge of powder into the end of the 
hole made with the bar and explode it. This hollows out a 
cavity right under the center of the tree, in which the larger 
amount of the explosive can be placed. With small or ordinary- 
sized trees this is not necessary, as excavation enough can be 
easily made. 

There are various ways of inserting the charge of powder. 
One is as follows: Put the Judson powder in a bag. The ad- 
vantage of having the powder in a bag is that the hole has to be 
made between the roots, and deviates frequently from a straight 
course by the irregularity of the roots. A bag can easily be 
pressed with the hands into such hole to reach the center under 
the tree or stump, which could not be done when the powder is 
in a box. After having put a small primer of Giant powder, 
with a fuse and a cap attached, through a hole into the box or 
bag of Judson powder, then tamp the hole with dirt; when this 
is done, light the fuse and get out of the way. 

The amount of explosive is regulated according to the size 
of the obstacle to be removed. All this can be learned from 
the agents in San Francisco, and they often send an expert to 
start the work and give instruction to workmen if there is much 
work to be done. It has been estimated that the cost of hand- 
ling trees and stumps wi-th explosives is less than one-fifth that 
by hand grubbing, and the ratio of saving increases as the 
trees are larger, as powder is cheaper than muscle. The blast- 
ing method has superseded most of the stump-pulling machines 
even for handling the smaller stumps. Anything too large to be 
twisted out with a lever and chain or "snaked " out by a direct 
pull with the team is touched up with a charge of powder. 

REMOVING SHRUBS AND BRUSH. 

In the case of removing shrubs of a somewhat tall growth, 
the top is made to help out the roots. This is done either with a 
good strong inch rope or a chain. Two methods as practiced 
on the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada are described as follows: — 

Chaparral can be pulled up by the roots. To do this requires two men and a 
pair of horses, and two chains, each ten or twelve feet long. A chain should be 
placed around the bush some distance above the ground to give leverage. If the 
bush is not removed at the first pull start the horses in the opposite direction. While 
the driver is unfastening the chain from the chaparral, the second man can place the 
other chain around another bush, and the one who gets through his work first should 
at once assist the other. In this way the horses are kept in constant employment, 
and neither of the men need lose a moment's time. This work should be done when 
the ground is thoroughly wet.* 

'■■p. W. Butler, Penryn. 



Snaking and Grubbing Brush. 89 

After trying several methods with the chamisal and "bhie brush," such as a 
hook, also blocks and tackles, both proved a failure; the hook because it had to be 
hitched too close to the ground, thus gaining no purchase, but a dead pull on the 
horses. The blocks and tackle were too slow work altogether, so were discarded. 
The best method I have found is to take a horse or a span, with an inch rope forty 
feet long, having a large hook on one end, the other end looped with a bow-line so 
that it can be hitched and unhitched without trouble from the stretcher. Now take 
the rope, when the ground is soft after a heavy rain; place it around the brush, as 
high up as it will stay without slipping over the top; hitch on and pull out. Vou 
may have to go back and cut a few roots to assist.* 

Where manzanita grows somewhat upright, as it does on the 
hills north of the bay, the same methods of extraction can be em- 
ployed with it, first slashing off enough to allow adjusting the 
rope or chain a few feet above the ground. Where it grows 
lower, as, for example, on the hills of Santa Clara, the manzanita 
brush is gone over with a roller so as to break it down and 
then the land is burned over. The roller should be of the or- 
dinary farm pattern, but rigged with a tiller (header fashion) so 
that the horses can push the roller and walk over the flattened 
brush. The only object of the rolling is to smash the brush 
down so that it will burn readily. When the brush is got rid of 
in this way the plow is trusted to get rid of the roots. The 
plow should be of the pattern known as " prairie breaker " with- 
out coulter. Horses should be shod with a plate of sheet iron 
between the shoe and hoof to prevent snagging, and not less 
than four of them used. Much of the Santa Clara County vine 
belt was cleared in that way. Of course this method only 
answers for the lighter rooted growths; tough-rooted chaparral, 
oak, holly, etc., must be grubbed out, unless the roots are snaked 
out by the tops as has been described. 

In spite of all appliances there is much straightforward, 
hard work to be done in clearing land, and the case described 
below probably better represents most undertakings of its kind 
than anything else that can be written: — 

I have a side-hill that is facing north. It was all covered with underbrush. It 
was so thick that stock could not pass through it. There were buckeyes, young oak 
trees, laurel stumps and oak stumps. I hired a man and put him to work by the day 
a $1.25 and board. I bought two good mattocks, and we started in at the foot of the 
hill and commenced to clear off. The brush we burned as we went along, and the 
stumps we dug around and chopped into fire-wood, and I got a piece cleaned off. 
I started in at the foot of the hill and plowed one way, going back empty. I have 
not seen any side-hill plows tit for this kind of work, as the plow has to cut roots all 
the time. It wants a good sharp share. t 

MARKETABLE PRODUCTS OF CLEARING. 

Whether any money can be made from the results of clear- 
ing, depends altogether upon local markets for wood and char- 



■•'Thos- Raymond, Coulterville. 
t C Dell, Napa. 



go Cliarcoal a)id Fireivood. 

coal and the cost of transportation to them. From clearings 
near large towns, enough can be sometimes had to pay for the 
work and hauling, and along railways wood can be often shipped 
with profit. This can only be learned by local inquiries. 

Charcoal Burning. — Charcoal can usually be sold to 
advantage. The price in San Francisco ranges from 45 to 60 
cents per sack holding about two bushels. There is also market 
for charcoal in interior towns, especially where Chinamen are 
found in numbers. Charcoal is made from most kinds of wood, 
and sometimes stumps and large roots are charred. A simple 
process of charcoal burning is given by an experienced burner 
as follows:* 

To burn a pit of charcoal, the prime necessity is to perform the process of com- 
bustion with the least possible contact with air. Select a suitable place not too far 
from the dwelling, because the operation must be watched from time to time by night 
as well as by day. It is not necessary to dig much of a "pit" in the ground. 
Choose hard limbs of pine, spruce, or whatever wood is most available of that kind. 
Dry, dead limbs, if not decayed, take for choice. Set them up wigwam fashion, 
close together, fitting them as well as they will allow — the apex forming the chimney. 
Be careful to keep that chimney free, because the fire should be there applied to brisk 
"kindling" as far down as possible. Build round and round, taking the precaution 
to lay three or four straight pieces, three or four inches in diameter, along the ground 
from the outside to the center. These may have to be withdrawn to promote the 
draught. 

The wood all being in place, it is now required to cover it thoroughly. In the 
absence of turf or sods, it must be thatched with leafy green boughs, or anything 
that will prevent the earth or dirt that is now heaped on from running through. 
Pack this soil covering carefuHy, exclude air as far as possible, excepting when the 
port-holes referred to near the ground are needed. The direction of the wind will 
determine which ones are to be opened. When the fire — after a few hours more or 
less, according to the materials — has got a good hold, close also the chimney. Visit 
the pit regularly, night and day; lessen or increase the draught, as may seem needed; 
and in a week or ten days the two or three cords of wood should be turned into good 
hard coal. When uncovered, water or dirt should be thrown upon coal that is too 
lively when spread out on the ground. 

Fire-wood in San Francisco. — Wood for the San Fran- 
cisco market should be in four-foot lengths. A range of prices 
for the different kinds is about as follows, varyingmuch, however, 
according to coal supply and prices: Peeled or tan-bark oak, $9.00 
to $11; black or live oak and white oak, $7.00 to $8.50; pine or 
fir, $8.00 to $10; redwood, $7.00 to $8.00; tan-bark, from the 
tan-bark oak, $17 to $20 per cord. The cost of transportation 
by rail is sometimes from $2.00 to $4.00 per cord for a distance 
not exceeding one hundred miles. These figures are only men- 
tioned to give a general idea. Of course no one will make de- 
finite calculation without securing data at the time and for the 
locality of the operation. 



W. B. M., in Pacific Rural Press, February 20, 18 



Prevention of Sprouting, oi 

CUTTING TO KILL BRUSH. 

Just when to cut to kill depends both upon the character of 
the growth and of the season. Dr. J. W. Gaily says:* " It all 
depends, with the leaf shedders, somewhat on soil and altitude 
or nature of climate. Now, in Pajaro Valley, which is cool and 
moist, I have seen willow, sycamore, cottonwood, box-elder, 
maple and ' grub ' oak die out from being cut down flat with the 
ground, or to two or three inches below the surface, in late Jul}^ 
or early August. But even that will depend somewhat on the 
kind of season; if in a late, cold, wet season, you cut a little 
later." 

Mr. C. P. Scranton, of Lake County, gives a slightly differ- 
ent time. He says:-f- "For the evergreen oaks and other ever- 
green brush, the time is late in the fall, just before the coldest 
weather sets in in November or December. The 'grubs,' or 
oaks that shed their leaves, have to be treated entirely different. 
Their time is in spring or early summer, at their most vigorous 
growth. Suddenly deprived of their leaves, the stump and roots 
are overcharged with sap, some kind of fermentation sets in, 
and I have seen the timber mold and commence to decay in a 
few days when it was very warm weather." In the eastern hills 
of Fresno County, best success is had with cutting brush in 
August. More experience and observation are needed to enable 
one to generalize safely, but one conclusion seems to be that with 
deciduous growths the best time to cut is when they have just 
made their most vigorous growth, and this is in the summer — but 
the month to be chosen for the work will depend upon the location, 
though August is generally selected as the best time. Theoret- 
ically, the reason for the choice of this time for cutting is that 
most deciduous trees and bushes have then completed their 
annual growth, and have their terminal buds definitely and fully 
formed. When this has occurred, it seems the plant has in a 
measure exhausted itself, in its effort at reproduction or adding 
to its growth, yet still supplies a large quantity of sap, for the 
consumption of the leaves and solidifying the new wood. If at 
this time we deprive the roots of the assistance of the foliage in 
the elaboration of the sap, the result appears to be a congestion 
of the sap in the roots, for want of circulation, and this almost 
always kills them entirely. To strip a tree of every leaf, at that 
season, is almost as certain to kill it as if the whole top were 
cut off at the ground, while if deferred one month later, few 
trees would be materially injured. 



Pacific Rural Press, March 24, i£ 
t Loc. at., March 10, 1888. 



92 Sheep and Fire. 

In the case of evergreens, as stated by Mr. Scranton, the 
cutting should be just before the coldest weather, in which tliey 
are the nearest dormant, the length of time before they can put 
leaves out again kills them. Evergreens, however, differ much 
in tenacity of life, for while most kinds are easily killed, the 
California redwood will endure almost any abuse of ax or fire and 
still spring up repeatedly and persistently for years. 

The Use of Sheep on Sprouts. — On sprouting brush 
there is, perhaps, no cheaper or more effective means of re- 
pression than sheep and goats. They are used instead of grub- 
bing, if one can wait, for by their persistent cutting down of 
growth, the small stumps and roots will decay enough in a year 
or two to be plowed out with a strong team and plow. 

BURNING of the DEBRIS. 

However the trees and underbrush may be wrenched from 
the soil, fire is the final clearer. Where trees are to be worked 
up into fire-wood it should be done as soon as they are felled, for 
the work is much less than after they become dry and hard. If 
it is not designed to break the land the first winter, the wood is 
left to season and it becomes lighter and easier to handle. The 
brush and roots, if no use is to be made of them, can be left to lie 
on the clearing to dry out during the following" summer, and after 
the first rains of the following fall the whole area can be burned 
over. Such stumps as do not burn with the brush must be 
gathered in piles and re-fired. Burning before the first rain 
should not be attempted, unless it be in exceptional situations, 
because of the danger of communicating fire to the surrounding 
country, which is a standing danger in our dry climate. After 
the rain, then, clean up the ground perfectly. 

First Crop on a Clearing. — It is the opinion of some 
clearers in the redwood region that the soil is not fit for fruit 
trees the first year after the original growth is removed, and they 
grow a field crop the first year. They claim that peas are the 
best corrective of " redwood poisoning," and fortunately in the 
upper redwood district they have a climate well suited to the pea. 
Whether their theory is right or not, their practice is of ad- 
vantage, because they get a better cultivation and aeration of 
the soil, and kill out much of the sprouting from the old roots, 
which is usually quite persistent in the moister parts of the 
State. Usually the tree and vine planter is in such haste to 
realize from his labor that he does not allow the first year to go 
for any side issue. 



Final Treatment of a Clearing. 93 

SURFACE LEVELING AND DRAINING. 

There is often occasion to clear the land of stone and rocks. 
The latter should be blasted out of the way so that the land 
may be clear for the plow and cultivator. Once in a while one 
will come upon a stone wall inclosincj an orchard in this State, 
as trim and true a wall as the most thrifty New England farmer 
can boast, but walls are not common. Our valley orchard lands 
are, as a rule, naturally as free from stone as they are from 
underbrush, but on the hills it is different. Probably the best way 
to dispose of much of the stone is to dig trenches in the natural 
water runs, put in stone, cover with small brush, and then with 
soil deep enough so the plow will not reach the brush. This 
disposes of the stone for all time, and at the same time helps to 
drain the soil. Concerning other treatment of the land after the 
rubbish is removed, P. W. Butler writes as follows: — 

When runs are wide, lateral ditches should be cut extending entirely through the 
moist areas. The rocks in the ditches should have a sufficient covering to place them 
below the reach of the plow. If during the rainy season, a run is likely to have 
more water than can be conveyed properly through a covered trench, it should be 
left open and graded so that a team can cross it, and for fifteen feet on each side sow 
to red-top. In this way the land can be utilized that would be worthless for trees, 
and the red-top that can be grown at a profit will take the place of unsightly weeds 
that would otherwise grow at the point that cannot be cultivated. 

To distribute work more evenly through the first year, buildings can be erected, 
a well dug, and the trenching done in the dry season, while all the grubbing, leveling, 
plowing and planting must be done during the time when the ground is wet. The 
following season, as soon as the ground is sufficiently moistened, it should be well 
leveled. All depressions where water would stand should be filled, and all fiat places 
should be graded until water will readily flow oft, and not be retained so near the 
surface of the ground as to cause it to become soured. This leveling can be best 
done by one man and a pair of horses. Plow the adjacent elevated land and scrape 
into the places to be filled. 

The land is now ready for plowing and should be done thoroughly, subsoiling to 
as great a depth as the removal of the stumps will allow. It is now well to go 
over the ground again with the scraper and level all tlie most elevated points so they 
can be readily reached by water in irrigating. Then cross-plow as deeply as possible 
without again subsoiling, harrow and drag, and the ground will be ready to plant. 

Mr. Butler writes with reference to the foot-hills of the 
Sierra Nevada, where irrigation must be practiced. Where 
irrigation is not used, leveling, or rather grading, is unnecessary, 
but it is often quite as neces.sary to arrange for drainage so that 
there may be no depressions which do not have an outlet for the 
surplus water. The life of the trees and the convenience of the 
planter demand this. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE NURSERY. 

California nursery stock is unrivaled in growth, health and 
vigor. This is the verdict of all visiting horticulturists and was 
formally declared by the victory of California tree-growers at 
the New Orleans World's Fair, in 1885, where the highest 
premiums were awarded to Californians in nearly all classes in 
which they exhibited.* 

The quality of the trees which can be purchased at our 
nurseries, and the very low rates at which they have been sold 
during the last few years, makes it little worth while for the 
orchard planter to try to grow his own trees. In fact, the in- 
vestment called for to secure a good assortment of well-grown 
trees will be one of the best which the orchard planter can 
make. The professional grower, if he is honest and enterprising, 
can give the purchaser the advantage of his experience and skill 
in the choice of stocks suited to his soil, varieties of fruit adapted 
to his situation, and be of assistance to him in other ways con- 
nected with his enterprise, and such helps to an inexperienced 
planter or to a new-comer are very valuable. There may be, 
however, some reader who is distant from established nurseries, 
or possessed of limited means, who may like to use his spare 
time in growing his own trees, and to such some suggestions 
are offered. There will, however, be very much which can only 
be learned by actual experience. 

In the selection of location for a commercial nursery there 
are matters involved which it is not proposed to discuss. At- 
tention will be paid rather to matters connected with what may 
be called a farm nursery. The first point will be the selection 
of a small piece of ground which offers proper soil, exposure, 
and, in some parts of the State, facilities for irrigation. 

PROPER SOIL FOR NUR.SERY. 
The soil should be a mellow loam, easy of cultivation and 



* John Rock, San Jose, took first premiums on the following nurserj- stock: Apples, almonds, 
apricots, cherries, figs, mulberries, olives, pears, persimmons, foreign plums, walnuts, chestnuts, and 
smaller collection of peach trees. Leonard Coates, of Napa, won the first award for the largest 
collection of peach trees. Report "American Horticultural Society" 1885, p. 226. A full list of 
Californians exhibiting nursery stock can be found in Pacific Rural Press, March 7, 1885. Several 
were prevented from competition for awards because their exhibits did not come under the rules for 
collections. 

(94) 



Soil for the Nursery. 95 

not disposed to crust and crack. In all respects what one would 
chooseas a rich, kind, garden soil, will answer well for the nursery. 
The soil should be moist, but thoroughly drained, either naturally 
or artificially, for time and labor will be largely wasted on a 
water-logged soil. In this respect a soil which might yield fair 
crops of some shallow-rooting vegetables would not be suitable 
for the young trees, which, to do well, must have favorable con- 
ditions to send the roots to considerable depth. Good spots are 
often found in the rich loam along the banks of creeks, as in 
such situations one finds generally a deep alluvium, well drained 
by the creek. But such situations, if liable to overflow, should be 
rejected because standing water is not good for trees, and because 
the soil will be apt to be soaked with water and inaccessible just 
at the time when the trees should be lifted for transplanting to 
orchard. 

It is not always possible to find an ideal nursery spot on 
every ranch, but still trees may be well grown on less favorable 
places if attention is given to correcting natural defects. For 
example, if the soil be naturally heavy, it may be improved 
somewhat by repeated plowing and cultivation during the year 
before starting the trees. If it be an adobe its mechanical con- 
dition may be greatly improved by the application of a top 
dressing of lime at the rate of six hundred to one thousand 
pounds of lime to the acre. For this purpose "lime waste," 
which contains both lime and wood ashes, can be had cheaply 
at the kilns. Old plaster which may have been left from house 
repairs is excellent. Even builders' lime would not be very ex- 
pensive, for but little would be required for so small a plot of land 
as a farm nursery would need to cover. The lime will increase 
the amount of plant food in a heavy soil as well as render it more 
friable. Another way in which a small area of heavy soil may 
be improved is by the addition of sand. A few loads of sand, 
if it can be had near by, will remove the tendency to crack, and 
will act as a mulch to prevent evaporation of moisture. If the 
soil be very loose and subject to too rapid drying out, the 
remedy will be moderate irrigation during the summer, but 
stopped soon enough to allow the young trees to ripen their 
wood before the frosts of autumn. Mulches of various light, 
fine materials, rotted straw and the like, may be used to ad- 
vantage among the young seedlings in preventing drying out of 
the soil, if the plot is to be hand-worked, but such materials are 
apt to be in the way of neat, thorough work with the horse. A 
mulch of sand, if available, is not open to this objection. 

In choosing soil for a nursery, a piece of land which has been 
in cultivation for garden or field crops is to be preferred over a 



96 Situation and Exposure. 

newly cleared piece. It is often the case that soil from which 
old stumps or roots have recently been removed has become 
soured from the processes of decay in the dead wood. Although 
the deposit of humus from decay of woody fiber tends to enrich 
the soil, afterwards certain acids are formed if the land lies with- 
out cultivation. These are not favorable to the growth of 
young roots, and a crop to which as much time is given as a crop 
of young trees, should not be placed upon it. This evil quality 
in the soil is removed by cultivation and aeration, or may be cor- 
rected by the application of lime. This state of soil is most 
complained of in connection with old stumps and roots of oaks 
in the valleys. 

Situation and Exposure. — As to situation of the piece 
chosen for nursery, in addition to what has already been sug- 
gested, it may be remarked that warmth in the soil is essential 
to a good growth, and good year's growth is essential to 
the production of a satisfactory tree. Drainage contributes 
notably to the warmth of the soil. Exposure is also of im- 
portance. Plenty of sunshine and protection from cold winds 
are to be secured. Sometimes a little elevation is desirable. It 
would be a serious mistake to seek moist, low land if the piece 
lay at the bottom of a little valley or depression where the cold 
air settled during the night and frosts frequent. In such cases 
choose higher ground. Of course, in broad, open valleys there 
is not this objection, for such seasonable frosts as may be ex- 
pected there are not injurious to deciduous nursery stock. The 
greatest nurseries in the State are in the open valleys, not on 
the lowest ground, however, in all cases, but on what would be 
called good, rich, valley land. There are, however, situations in 
the thermal belts in which the temperature does not fall low 
enough to check growth of deciduous trees and cause the leaves 
to drop. In such cases it has been found desirable to select 
lower and colder ground for the nursery of deciduous trees. 

Preparation of Nursery Ground. — The best prepara- 
tion for nursery ground is the growth, the previous season, of a 
hoed crop. This will secure frequent working of the soil, 
thorough pulverization of the clods, etc. The produce of the 
hoed crop should thus imy the cost of putting the land in good 
condition at least. Where the retention of moisture is an object, 
as it really is in some parts of the State where the annual rain- 
fall is sometimes small and no facilities for irrigation provided, 
it will perhaps pay better in the end to keep the land in bare 
fallow during the previous summer; but there must be frequent 
and thorough cultivation, keeping the surface always mellow, or 



Growth of Seedlings. 97 

more moisture will be lost by evaporation than a hoed crop 
would require for its growth. Properly cultivated fallow soil 
will have moisture within a few inches of the surface, while un- 
worked soil, adjoining, will be baked hard and dry to a depth of 
feet. During the winter immediately preceding planting, the 
green stuff should be allowed to grow for a time, but should be 
plowed under before it gets high enough to interfere with perfect 
turning of smooth furrows. The decay of this green crop is of 
advantage to the soil. Another plowing in the spring, and a 
thorough harrowing, will leave the ground in good condition to 
receive the pits or root grafts as the case may be. In this plow- 
ing for nursery there should be deep work done and subsoiling, 
as will be more fully set forth under the head of preparing land 
for orchard, to which the reader is referred. 

GROWTH OF SEEDLINGS FOR THE NURSERY. 

The two chief ways of producing fruit trees are, first, from 
seedlings grown on the spot; second, from buds and root grafts 
upon stock imported from the East or from abroad. First, as 
to the growth of seedlings: — 

It is usual to take seeds from sources where they can be 
collected with the least trouble. Apples are washed out from 
the pomace of the cider press; apples and pears, from the corings 
and peelings of canneries and drying establishments; pits of the 
stone fruits are derived from the same source. Supplies can 
usually be purchased from such establishments at a moderate 
cost. The trouble is that from such supplies one is apt to get 
seeds and pits from all varieties, possessing different degrees of 
health and vigor. There is just as much to be gained from 
selecting the seed from which to grow good strong stocks for 
fruit trees as there is in selecting good garden or field seed. 
One can generally get good peach pits, for it is easy to have the or- 
der filled when the cannery is running on yellow Crawford, which is 
an excellent parentage for peach trees, and yet some claim much 
preference for pits from vigorous seedling trees and make extra 
efforts to secure them. Wherever it is possible, and if one is 
-only to produce a small lot of trees it is practicable, to 
select from the fruit the pips for planting. In the case of the 
apple, the late John Lewelling claimed that he had satisfied 
himself that trees grown from the seed of Rawle's Janet or the 
Golden Russet, had roots which would be free from the woolly 
aphis, while roots grown from seed promiscuously obtained would 
be infested. But not only is there great difference in the 
strength of different varieties but individual trees vary greatly. 
If one is taking seed from an old orchard to start his nursery 
7 



98 Apple, Pear and Cherry Seedlings. 

with, he can take pains to get his seed from his strongest trees 
and thus get that which is probably best adapted to his locahty. 

Apple and Pear Seedlings. — For a small lot of apple 
and pear trees the seed can be best sown in boxes. Keep the 
seed moderately moist from the time it is taken from the fruit 
until sowing. Fill the boxes, which should be three or four inches 
deep, with good garden mold, cover the seed about half an inch, 
and then cover the soil lightly with chaff or fine straw to prevent 
the surface from drying out. Be sure that the boxes have cracks 
or holes in the bottom for drainage, and the whole is kept moist 
but not wet. When the seedlings have grown to the height of 
three inches they can be set out in the nursery rows as one 
would set out cabbage plants. 

Cherry Seedling.S. — There are different ways of hand- 
ling pits of stone fruits to prepare them for setting out in open 
ground, which will be described. The cherry is grown from pits 
of two wild varieties; one is commonly called the " Black 
Mazzard." It is the common wild cherry of the East, and is the 
original type of what are known as the Heart and Bigarreau 
types of cherries. The other is the " Mahaleb," which is used at 
the East for dwarfing, and also in situations where it thrives 
better than the Mazzard, as it is a hardier stock. In this State 
the Mahaleb does not seem to have such a dwarfing effect as 
there: trees on that stock in this State over twenty-five years old 
are twenty-five inches in diameter of trunk. The Mahaleb, how- 
ever, ripens its wood earlier, and for this reason may be valuable 
in the colder parts of the State. The Mazzard is almost universally 
used in this State. Cherry stones are sometimes taken from the 
fully ripened fruit, dried for two or three days, the stones cracked 
carefully and planted at once in good garden soil and kept 
properly moist. They will germinate soon and make a growth 
of a foot or so the first season. Such stocks are taken up for 
grafting in the winter and set out in nursery row the next spring. 
A better way of treating cherry is that given by W. W. Smith, 
of Vacaville, at a meeting of the State Horticultural Society, 
as follows: — 

The fruit of the Mazzard should be allowed to get perfectly ripe on the tree, 
then gathered and let lie in a heap for three or four days, so that they may be partially 
or wholly freed from the pulp by washing them in water. They should then be 
spread out in the shade and stirred frequently for about twenty-four hours. This 
will give the outside of the pit time to dry sufficiently to prevent molding, while the 
kernel itself will remain fresh and green. They should then be placed in moist (not 
wet) sand and__kept so until the rains set in in the fall, when they can be planted in 
drills, in good, rich, mellow soil prepared the previous spring and kept clean of 
weeds through the summer, ready for the purpose. They should never be allowed to 
get perfectly dry; and the reason for it is, that we have but little or no freezing and 



Seedlings of the Large Stone Fruits. 99 

thawing weather in this country to cause the pits to open; but if they are kept con- 
stantly moist it answers the same purpose as freezing. The seeus of the Mahaleb 
cherry will sprout with less difficulty, but the same rules for keeping the Mazzards 
will apply to them. 

The Larger Stone Fruits. — In handling pits of the 
larger stone fruits the chief requisite is to prevent drying and 
great hardening of the pit. We have not the freezing to aid in 
opening the shell in this State. Some plant in the fall and trust 
to natural conditions to start the seedling in the spring, but 
this interferes with the cultivation of the ground, and leaves the 
seedling to grow in soil which has perhaps been puddled by 
heavy winter rains. There must also be much hand work done 
to clear the rows from weeds. It is much better to keep the pits 
from drying by covering with sand moderately moist, hasten the 
sprouting by appropriate treatment towards spring, and then 
plant out in thoroughly prepared soil, and they will make a 
satisfactory growth. The following method by D. J. Parmele,.of 
Vacaville, has given good results: — 

Keep the pits out of the sun until the rains commence in the fall, then put them 
into a box about a foot deep, and scatter sand or fine earth through them, putting 
about two inches on top, and place them under the eaves of a building on the south 
side, where they will get well soaked every time it rains. If there should be a long 
dry spell tlvring the winter, water them a little. The warm and cold of day and 
night, and wet and dry of rain and shine, is what causes the pits to open, although 
the sprouting favors it. About March they will open and sprout. Then take a 
plow and open a deep furrow in loose, mellow ground, and, with a hoe, pull about 
two-thirds of the dirt back into the furrow, breaking the clods, and making it fine, 
the same as you would if you expected to plant onion seed there. Drop the sprouted 
pits in a straight line, and cover two inches. On account of the extra work in pre- 
paring the ground, the trees will be large enough to l>ud in July. 

Another way is to spread out the pits on a smooth piece of 
ground and cover with sacks, and over these a layer of straw 
three or four inches thick to retain moisture. The pits may be 
planted out as soon as they crack open, although no harm will 
be done if they are allowed to lie until the sprouts are well out. 

Another method which has been especially recommended for 
treatment for almonds is the following: Lay boards upon the 
ground and cover them with an inch of sand; spread on this a 
layer of almonds and then another inch of sand, and so on. 
Keep the pile wet and in three weeks of warm weather they will 
burst open. Plant in drills one inch deep and put over them a 
light coat of rotten straw. 

Nut Tree Seedlings. — In growing nut tree .seedlings 
much the same methods are followed as with pits of stone fruits. 
There are methods described in detail by California growers 
which should be given. As has been said, the nuts may be 



lOO Nut Tree Seedlings. 

planted at any time after ripeninjr, in the milder parts of the 
State, if the grower will undertake the greater care and cultiva- 
tion. On some light soils where the rainfall is not excessive, 
this is not much trouble. Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, the 
well-known propagator of improved varieties of nut trees, gives 
this as his method: — 

The nuts may be planted as soon as gathered, though here in Nevada City it is 
too cold to plant them in the fall, for the frost in winter would surely lift the nuts 
ritjht out of the ground. This is the way I employ in keeping and sprouting walnuts: 
I throw into the bottom of a box one inch of deep sand, then a layer of nuts; put in 
another inch of sand, and another layer of nuts, and so on to one or two inches from 
the top. Then water well with a sprinkler and water again during the winter when- 
ever the sand gets too dry. The sand has to be pretty well saturated with water, 
especially from the ist of January down to planting-time, which is in February, 
March or April, according to localities. The latter part of March or first week in 
April is best for Nevada City. The nuts are planted in drills and to a depth of 
two to three inches. 

In propagating chestnuts it is always better to select for seed the largest, finest, 
and healthiest nuts; in the fall or beginning of winter the nuts have to be planted 
in-a box of damp sand, by layers, the box being kept in a cellar. The nuts may be 
planted, too, in a hole in the open ground, a layer of chestnut leaves being 
first thrown in the bottom of the hole, on top of that a layer of nuts, then 
another layer of leaves, and so on to the top, which has to be properly covered with 
two or three inches of earth so as to prevent the frost injuring the nuts. In February 
or March, according to location, the nuts are taken out and planted in drills to a 
depth of three to four inches; less for smaller seed like American chestnuts. 

In planting out pits or nuts, if they have sprouted when 
taken out of the sand or hole where they have been kept during 
the winter, as it is most generally the case, they must be planted 
with the sprout up or sideways, but never the small end down. 
So it is with walnuts, almonds and filberts, and also the pits of 
peaches, apricots, and plums. This point is quite important with 
chestnuts and walnuts, so as to obtain straight stocks and 
shapely roots; then when the nuts are planted wrong, upside 
down, the sprout is liable to remain buried in the ground, where 
it will finally rot. 

IMPORTED SEEDLINGS. 

A very large proportion of some kinds of fruit trees pro- 
duced in this State are worked upon imported seedling stocks. 
Almost all the cherries, and it is estimated that nine-tenths of 
the pears, and one-third of the apples, are thus grown. These 
stocks are cheap, convenient to handle, and are therefore popular. 
It is easy enough to grow peach, almond, and apricot seedlings, 
but small seeds, like apple and pear, often do not show up well 
in the spring, especially if the soil is of a kind that crusts over 
with rain and sunshine. Therefore our nurserymen import 
these seedlings in the winter, plant them out as has already been 



Fruit Trees from Cuttings. lOl 

described, and bud in the following summer, grafting the next 
spring where the buds fail. It is claimed for the French pear 
seedlings that they hold their leaves better in the summer than 
Eastern seedlings, and imported apple seedlings are less likely to 
be affected by woolly aphis. These stocks are of better budding 
size during their first summer than California seedlings, which 
are apt to overgrow. 

To succeed with cherry seeds requires special treatment, as 
has already been described, and the nurseryman finds it cheaper 
to buy his stocks. 

Myrobolan plum seedlings are also imported to a large 
extent. This stock is rapidly advancing in favor for plums and 
prunes, and in some situations, for the apricot. Some also 
claimed it fitted for the peach, but when a plum root is needed 
for the peach the St. Julien is better. The Myrobolan stocks 
used in this State were largely from cuttings, and their value as 
compared with seedlings was a matter of some contention. It 
is now pretty definitely settled that the propagation from cut- 
tings produces inferior trees, and there is strong suspicion that 
they are liable to root diseases. A fuller discussion of stocks 
will be given later in connection with the propagation of each 
kind of fruit. 

Fruit Trees from Cuttings. — It is feasible to grow a 
number of kinds of fruit trees from cuttings, but it is not desirable 
in many cases to do it. Trees grown from a graft or bud in a 
seedling root are much better. The root system of a seedling is 
naturally stronger and more symmetrical. The roots from a cut- 
ting start out at the bottom and .spread out horizontally and 
irregularly. This style of a root system is expressively named 
" duck-foot roots," and they do not give the tree a deep, strong 
hold on the soil. Trees can, however, be multiplied very fast 
from cuttings. Notable instances of this are the Myrobolan 
plum and the Leconte pear. Cuttings of deciduous trees 
should be taken from well-matured wood of the previous season's 
growth and planted in rows and in well-prepared soil, as has al- 
ready been described for the sowing of fruit-tree seeds. The 
cuttings should be taken before the sap begins running in the 
winter. A cutting about ten inches long, two-thirds of its length 
buried in the ground, will answer. Small wood is better than 
large, though, of course, the extreme ends of twigs should be 
rejected usually. Cultivation of cuttings is the .same as that of 
seedlings, and budding, when the cuttings are to be used as stocks, 
is also governed by the same rules. 

The oranee and lemon can be grown from cuttings, but the 



102 l^lcxiitiiig III Xiirscry. 

work is done at a different season, and requires different treat- 
ment. Cut from wood one or two years old; set in open ground 
of partial shade and give plenty of water (dry ground is death 
to their tender roots). Plant out in the summer months. Cut- 
tings started in the warm weather and given partial shade and 
plenty of irrigation are very apt to succeed. A piece of well- 
drained soil is essential. This method of growing these fruits 
is not, however, in wide use or favor. 

The propagation of the olive and the fig from cuttings will 
be considered in the chapters on those fruits. 

PLANTING OUT IN NURSERY. 

For planting out in nursery, the term "spring" is given at 
the proper time, but in California it must be remembered that 
spring is not any definite division of the year. "Spring weather" 
comes from the first of February to the first of May, according 
to the latitude or elevation or exposure resulting from local topog- 
raphy. Cherries may be ripe in Vaca Valley before fruit trees put 
out leaves in Modoc County; and between these extremes there 
are advents of spring in other places according to the situation. 
These facts are more fully set forth in the chapter on climate. 
Spring must be detected in the behavior of vegetation and not 
by the calendar. When the tree buds swell and the leaves ap- 
pear, spring has come for that localit}'. But whether one can 
plant his nursery then or not will depend upon the character of 
the soil and the condition of the rainfall for that season. This 
varies much from year to year. As a rule, however, in most 
parts where fruit is grown at present in large quantities, the 
heavy cold rains will be over by the first of February, and then 
nursery operations can commence if the soil is in good condition. 
If not, the planter must wait until the soil is dry enough to work- 
nicely. There will, of course, be heavy rains after the first of 
February; but they will not do more injury than to require cul- 
tivation to loosen the soil, if the nursery ground is well situated 
for drainage, and if it is not it should not be used for this 
purpose. 

Supposing the ground has been deeply plowed and thor- 
oughly harrowed, as has been already described, the laying out of 
the ground is the next operation. Everything should be done 
with a view to the use of the horse in cultivation. The rows 
should be laid out as straight as possible. Some use a plow 
furrow; some an arrangement like a corn-marker, with two culti- 
vator teeth set four feet apart; some stretch a line, to get the 
pits or root grafts as true to it as possible, and some trust to the 
furrow for straightness. No rule can be laid down for means to 



General Suggestions. 103 

be employed; the result must depend upon the eye and skill of 
the individual. Some people can hardly shoot a straight line 
with a gun. Each must do the best he can in this respect. 

There is difference in practice as to distance between the 
rows in nursery. The usual distance is four feet, but others 
claim that it is better to make the rows six feet apart,'especially 
where no irrigation is practiced, as this gives the young trees 
more room, and if the ground is kept thoroughly cultivated, as 
it should be, it gives the roots a greater supply of moisture to 
draw upon. In growing a small lot of trees, where there is 
plenty of land, it is, of course, desirable to give them every ad- 
vantage in the way of facilities for growth. 

At the ends of the rows spaces of about twelve feet should be 
left as turning ground for the horse when cultivating, and as a 
roadway. The length of nursery rows depends upon the taste 
of the grower. It is convenient .to have alleys wide enough for 
a horse and cart at intervals of 100 to 300 feet; but in small 
nurseries the headlands would probably give all the access re- 
quired. 

The depth for planting seeds and pits must be regulated by 
the size of the seed and the character of the soil, as is always 
laid down by the authorities, and in this State another condition 
must be made, and that is the climate or weather conditions 
prevailing in the locality. Where the rainfall is generally light 
and the soil loose, seed must be planted deeper than where good 
spring showers are to be expected. In fine soils seeds must be 
planted shallower than in coarse, even with the same rainfall. 
Judgment and experience must dictate in this matter, and if a 
man has no experience, he is pretty apt to get it. 

During the spring months the cultivator must be used as 
often as may be required to keep the weeds from getting too 
high, or the soil from becoming too densely packed by heavy 
rains, but the ground should never be worked when too wet. It 
requires some watchfulness and promptitude to use the cultivator 
just at the right time. 

In parts of the State where the rainfall is adequate, culti- 
vation thorough, the soil sufficiently retentive, and atmospheric 
conditions favorable, the seedling will make its growth without 
irrigation, and many nurseries are on ground not provided at all 
with irrigation facilities. In other parts of the State irriga- 
tion is necessary. Water should be applied sparingly, and yet 
enough to keep the seedling in healthy, growing condition. This 
is shown by the leaves, which should not droop or curl. Exces- 
sive irrigation -hould be guarded against, because a soft, excess- 
ive growth is very undesirable. Water is a good thing, and in 



I04 Irrigation of Nursery Trees. 

some cases a very necessary thing, but the use of it should be 
wisely regulated. At budding it is necessary that the sap should 
be free and the bark slip easily. To foster this condition it is 
sometimes desirable to give a watering a few days before bud- 
ding commences. Water should be applied by running it 
through shallow furrows between the rows, and the cultivator 
should follow as soon as the ground is dry enough to work 
freely. 



CHAPTER IX. 



BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 

If the nursery ground has been well worked and the seed 
properly handled, the growth of the seedling will be strong and 
rapid. If an early start was had and other conditions favorable, 
some kinds will be ready for budding in June, and the produc- 
tion of what are called "June buds," as will be described pres- 
ently. In ordinary practice, however, budding will come later, 
and the budding season extends from July to October. The 
weight of the budding is generally done in August and Sep- 
tember. 

The process of budding, as em- 
ployed on all the common fruit trees, is 
very simple. It consists in lifting the 
bark and inserting a bud from another 
tree in such a way that the inner bark 
of the bud shall come in contact with 
the layer of growing wood in the stock, 
and then it will be quickly knit to it by 
the sap, if the bark 
is closed around the 
inserted bud closely 
enough t o prevent 
the air from drying 
the two surfaces at 
the point of contact. 
In the engrav- 
ing a is the cutting 
or "bud stick" from 
the tree of the kind 
into which it is de- 
sired to transform 
the seedling. This cutting is to be made from the growth of 
the present season, which has well-formed buds at the axils of 
the leaves. If buds are desired to mature early, pinch off the 
ends of the shoots from which they are to be taken. Suckers 
and so-called " water sprouts" should not be used, but rather 

(105) 





Budding Illustrated. 



IO& The Operation of Ihidding. 

vvell-forniCLl wmocI from the branches of tlie tree. It is requisite 
that the buds be taken from a vigorous, healthy tree of the variety- 
desired. Bud sticks can be carried or sent considerable dis- 
tances if packed in damp moss or other material to prevent 
drying. Sealing the ends with grafting wax is also a good pre- 
caution against drying out. 

Budding knives can be bought at all seed stores and cutlery 
establishments. They have a thin, round-ended blade at one 
end of the handle, and at the other end the bone is thinned 
down, or a bone blade inserted. The former is for cutting and 
the latter for lifting the bark of the stock into which the bud is 
to be placed. Armed with a bud stick and such a knife the 
"budder" starts in upon a row of seedlings. Bending the seed- 
ling over a little and holding it between his left arm and his left 
leg, he reaches down for a smooth place on the bark as near the 
ground as convenient to work, and makes a horizontal cut, and 
from that a perpendicular cut downwards toward the roots, as 
shown at b in the engraving, with the bark slightly lifted and 
ready for the insertion of the bud. Next he cuts from his bud 
stick a bud, as shown at c. This carries with it, on the back, a 
small portion of the wood of the bud stick as well as the bud 
and bark. It was once claimed that this wood should be care- 
fully dug out, but in budding most kinds of trees it is not nec- 
essary; in fact, it may be better to leave it in; such at any rate 
is the general practice. - The point of the bud is now inserted at 
the opening at the top of the slit in the bark of the stock 
and pushed down into place, as shown in figure d. To handle 
the bud the part of the leaf stem which is left on is of material 
assistance. Nothing remains now but to apply the ligature which 
is to hold down the bark around the bud. 

There are various ways of tying in the bud. Any way 
will do which holds down the bark closely, but not too tightly. 
Different materials are also used, soft cotton twine, stocking 
yarn, strips of cotton cloth, candle wicking, etc. The last-named 
is perhaps the best material, on all accounts, although strips of 
cheap calico bear evenly upon the bark and do very good work. 
The use of twine is speedy, but the strands bearing upon a nar- 
row surface, and not being elastic, they are apt to do injury by 
cutting into the bark unless carefully watched and loosened. 
The fiber from basswood bark was formerly largely used, but has 
given place to the other materials named, which are more handily 
obtained. The buds must be examined about a week or ten 
days after insertion, and the ligature loosened, for otherwise it 
will cut into the rapidly growing stock. Sometimes trees are 
badly injured by neglect in this particular. 



Dormant and Pushing Buds. 107 

In making June buds, where immediate growth of the bud 
is desired, some growers make a hard knot with the cord around 
the stock, above the bud, and then use the loose ends to tie the 
bud. When the binding around the bud is loosened the hard 
knot remains on the stock, girdles it, and forces the sap into the 
bud. Thin wire, known to nurserymen as 'Mabel wire," is also 
used for this purpose. 

In going through the nursery row, all seedlings which are 
large enough are budded at once. In going through the row 
again to look to the bands, if the bud is seen to be fresh looking, 
it is considered to have "taken." In stocks where the first bud 
has dried up, another is inserted lower down. Sometimes seed- 
lings which were too small to hold a bud at the first working 
over are given a bud later in the season, or are left for taking up 
for root grafting in the winter. 

In nursery practice the budderdoes not stop to tie his buds, 
but is followed in the row by another man who carries the tying 
material, and does this part of the work. 

The common method of budding thus described is used on 
all common orchard fruits. Special styles of budding for special 
fruits will be described in the chapters treating of those fruits. 

Usually the budded trees are allowed to stand in the nur- 
sery row with no other treatment that year than the insertion 
and care of the bud, the latter remaining dormant until the next 
spring. Then, as soon as the sap begins to swell the buds on 
the stock, the top is cut off down to about two inches above the 
bud, and all growth is kept off except that of the inserted bud. 
When that has grown out about twelve inches the stub is cut off 
to about three-quarters of an inch or less from the bud, and the 
wood is quickly grown over by the bark. As there are apt to be 
dormant buds on the stock below the inserted bud, the trees 
have to be examined from time to time, and all such suckers re- 
moved. This is the common practice with budded trees. Ex- 
ceptions will be noticed presently in connection with definitions 
of different kinds of trees known to the trade. 

Spring Budding. — What has been said in reference to 
budding applies to the use of dormant buds. It is also possible 
to work with what is called a "pushing bud." This process, as 
described by a distinguished French authority, consists of retard- 
ing the growth of the buds on the scions by burying them in 
the ground until the .sap is starting well in the stock in the spring, 
and then putting them in, trimming off the top of the stock so 
as to force the bud into growth. In this way the growers of a 
rare variety may secure trees for planting out the following 



io8 Grafting Seedling Stocks. 

winter, or he may secure a stock of buds for fall buddinoTj, 
and thus multiply his stock of a desirable variety very rap- 
idly. A modification of this method is practiced to a certain 
extent in California, and may prove useful in some cases. 
It may be called budding with a growing bud. Mr. G. W. 
Thissell, of Solano County, takes buds in the spring when they 
have grown out even half an inch, and inserts them by the usual 
method of lifting the bark, when the sap is flowing well in the 
stock. He then cuts off about half the stock, so as not to 
give the bud too much sap at first, and afterward, when it is 
seen to have taken well, the balance of the stock is cut off near 
the bud. This method gives a tree the first season and saves a 
year over dormant budding. 

GRAFTING. 

The next process of propagation to be considered is that 
by grafting. Its success, as with budding, consists in bringing 
the growing wood (inner bark or alburnum) of the scion into 
contact with the same layer of the stock. It can be applied to 
any part of the tree, from the topmost branch to the lowest root, 
as is the case when new trees are made from scions and root 
fragments. Thus grafting pertams both to the production of 
young trees for planting out and to the transformation of old trees 
bearing worthless fruit into producers of choice varieties. 

Grafting for the production of young trees is first in order. 
Instead of budding the seedling during the first summer of its 
growth, it may be allowed to complete its season's growth, and 
drop its leaves. When thus dormant the young trees are taken 
from the ground, the roots rinsed off with water if the ground 
is wet and sticky, or merely shaken free from clinging earth if in 
a dry time. Enough trees are dug at once to graft at a sitting. 
The grafting can be done at the work-bench in the tool-house 
or barn, and if one is pressed with other daylight work, it may 
be done by lamplight at the kitchen table, if the housewife can 
be conciliated for the mu.ss it will make. 

Care OY Scions. — The scions should be previously selected, 
and whether taken from trees on the place or brought from near 
or distant sources away from the farm, should have been placed 
as soon as procured in moist earth on the north side of the 
house or other building, where they will keep cool and damp 
until^one is ready to use them. At the East and in parts of 
this State where the ground is apt to freeze it is necessary to 
keep scions in the cellar with their butts covered with moist 
sand, but over most of the area of the State nothing more is 
needed than to put down in the earth at the base of a tree or on 



Grafting Wax and Wax Bauds. 109 

the north side of a building, with, perhaps, a box or barrel in- 
verted over them to keep out mice and other intruders. Care 
must be taken not to let them dry up. If it is desirable for any 
reason to keep scions dormant long into the spring or summer, 
of course storage in a cool cellar is better, for in the open ground 
the scions will burst into leaf after a warm spell of spring 
weather. 

In selecting wood for scions, as for bud sticks, never take 
water shoots or suckers that start from the body of the tree and 
push up through the older branches, but always give the prefer- 
ence to sound, fully-matured wood, at the ends of the lower or 
nearly horizontal branches. Careful experiments have shown 
that trees grown from such scions are more likely to take on a 
low, spreading habit, than those from the central or upper 
branches. The scions should be tied in bundles with a stout 
cord, and a piece of a shingle, with the name of the variety written 
plainly and deeply, should be tied in with each bundle. 

Grafting Wax. — In grafting, a good grafting wax is 
requisite. The ingredients are mixed in different proportions by 
different growers. A few recipes which are known to give good 
results are as follows: — 

Ten lbs. of resin, 2 lbs. beeswax, 2 lbs. tallow. 4 lbs. bar soap. 

Two and one-fourth lbs. resin, 2 lbs. beeswax, ^ of a lb. tallow. 

One lb. mutton tallow, 2 lbs. beeswax, 4 lbs. resin. 

Two lbs. resin, 2 lbs. beeswax, % lb. tallow, and a little linseed oil. 

Two lbs. resin, i lb. beeswax, 2% lbs. linseed oil, 4 tablespoonfuls turpentine. 

All these mixtures are made with the aid of gentle heat, 
and during grafting the wax must be kept warm enough to 
apply easily with a small brush. To do this, the wax dish may 
be kept on a hot brick, to be changed for a fresh one as it cools, 
or, better still, is to heat the wax in an old fruit can or some- 
thing of that kind, inside another, which is partly full of warm 
water. The wax should not be so hot as to run too easily, but 
just right to spread well. 

Grafting is greatly facilitated by the use of strips of waxed 
cloth or waxed paper, the latter being quite good enough for 
root grafts, which we are at present especially considering. 
This waxed paper is made by spreading a thin coat of wax, with 
a brush, upon tough, thin wrapping paper, cutting up the paper, 
when cold, with a sharp knife on a board, into strips about an 
inch wide. Waxed cloth is made by dipping cheap cotton cloth 
into hot wax, pulling the pieces between the edges of two boards 
to take out as much wax as possible, and when the cloth is cold, 
tearing it up into half-inch strips for small grafts or wider strips 



no 



Cleft Gi'afting. 



for large grafts. While grafting is going on in-doors, these stri]xs 
hanging near the stove are kept in good, soft condition for use. 
There are grafting preparations which do not require heat- 
ing, but remain in a semi-fluid state, and then become very hard 
by contact with the air. The following is a popular French 
preparation: — 

Melt one pound of resin over a gentle tire. Add to it one ounce of beef tallow, 
and stir it well. Take it from the fire, let it cool down a little and then 
mix with it a tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine, and after that add about 
seven ounces of very strong alcohol. The alcohol cools it down so rapidly that it 
will be necessary to put it once more on the fire, stirring it constantly. Great care is 
necessary to avoid igniting the alcohol. 

This wax iseasil}^ prepared, and when well corked will keep 
for six months. It is put on the wounded part of the tree, very 
thin, and soon becomes as hard as stone. Thus it is valuable not 
only for grafting, but for covering the scars caused by removing 
limbs in pruning. When bench grafting is done by nurserymen, 
of course all appliances are arranged for the speediest work, and 
wonderful results are attained by one man and a helper, even as 
many as three thousand root grafts of apple in ten hours. We 
are, however, merel)^ discussing home practices. 

Cleft Grafting. — Where various-sized stocks are to be 
used, as will be the case with a bunch of home-grown seedlings, 
different styles of grafting must be used. Where the stock is 
much larger than the scion, as is apt to be the case with Califor- 
nia seedlings, the cleft graft will be simplest. Cut off the top 
growth smoothly above the root crown and then split the top 
of the stock, as shown in the engraving. Then 
prepare the scion by whittling it to wedge-shape 
at the lower end. Open the split in the stock 
with a little wedge and insert the scion so that 
its inner bark matches with the in- 
ner bark of the stock, something 
as shown in the second figure. It 
does not matter whether the outside 
of the scion is flush with the outside 
of the stock or not; the vital point 
is to get the growing layers just 
inside the barks in contact with 
each other, and to be sure of this, 
it may be well to give the scion a 
slight diagonal pitch, for if the 
barks cross each other, this desirable contact is sure to be made. 
It is well to make the side of the wedge of the scion which goes 




Cleft Graft at Root Crown. 



Side and Whip Grafting. 



I I I 



nearer to the center of the stock a little thinner than the out- 
side. 

A scion for a root graft is cut longer than for use in the top 
of the tree, for in planting the point of grafting is placed a little 
way under-ground. Such scions are usually cut with four or 
five buds. After the scion is in place it only remains to wrap it 
closely with a piece of the waxed cloth or paper, in such a way 
that all the cut surfaces are covered, extending the 
wrapper a little below the split in the root. Paint over 
the wrapper with warm wax put on with the brush, 
put a little on the top of the scion, and the graft is 
complete. 




Side Grafting. — Another method which pre- 
vents splitting the stock is the side graft shown in 
the accompanying figure. It consists in bending the 
SnjE Graft, stock to one side and cutting in diagonally with a 
thin-bladed, sharp knife, a little more than half way 
through the stock. Into this open cut insert the scion so that 
the inner barks touch, and allowing the stock to straighten up 
holds the scion firmly. Covering with a wax band 
drawn tight makes a good job, and such grafts make 
as good growth as the buds set the previous summer. 
This method can be used with stems or branches up 
to an inch in diameter, and is essentially the same as 
will be mentioned later as a side graft for working 
over old trees. In this style of grafting, a stub of 
three inches or more may be left above the graft, and 
to this the graft can be tied to prevent blowing out if 
it makes a strong growth. Afterward the stub is cut 
back with a sloping cut and waxed or painted with 
shellac to prevent checking. 

WHir Grafting in the Stem.— Grafting 
above the root or in the stem of the stock when stock p !il 
and scion are about the same size, is done by tongue u 
or whip grafting. The accompaning sketch shows a \ , 
whip graft in the stem of the stock. Grafts up to an f 
inch in diameter can be made in this way but it is wim> Graft. 
generally used for smaller wood. Care must be taken 
to secure proper contacts of the inner barks at least on one side 
of the stock. After pushing the parts together a wax band 
holds them firmly in place, or the joint may be simply tied and 
painted over with wax. 



I 12 



Making and Planting Root Grafts. 




A Root Graft. — When the root stock and 
the scion are about the same size the tongue graft is 
also used as shown in the figure. In making this both 
the stock and scion are given a sloping cut of about 
the same length, and a secondary cut made in each. 
When the two are put together the wood " tongues 
in," or interlocks, as shown in the engraving. The 
object of this is to make more points of contact for 
the inner barks of root and scion, and at the same 
time to interlock the two more firmly. In putting 
the two together, if the stock is slightly larger than 
the scion, be sure and put the scion so that the inner 
ToNGUEGRAFT.bark contact is made, and this will bring the scion 
a little to one side of the center. Bind with the 
wax band, and paint with wax as in the case of the former graft. 
In large nursery practice expert grafters have come of late 
years to make this root graft without wax, merely tying in the 
graft. For amateur work at home it is much safer to use the 
wax. 

Planting out Root Grafts. — This root grafting can 

be done in the 
winter before it 
is time to plant 
out, and the 
grafts can be 
made a few at a 
time, as conven- 
ient. The grafts, 
then, as fast as 
prepared, should 
be bedded in 
moist sand in 
the cellar, and will make their contact firm, and even start to 
growing a little. In planting out in the nursery rows be sure 
the earth is firmed well around the root, otherwise many will be 
lost. The plant can be put in and the earth closed with a dibble, 
as seen in the sketch. Plant ten or twelve inches apart in the rows. 
Keep the weeds down and the soil well cultivated and loose on 
the surface, and the first season's growth will give a tree fit for 
planting out in orchard in the coming winter. For irrigation, 
the same rules will apply as given for the growth of seedlings 
for budding. 

PRUNING TREES IN NURSERY. 
As for other treatment of the trees (either from bud or root 
graft) in nursery during the first year, there is some difference of 




Planting Seedlings or Root Grafts in Nursery Row 



Shaping Trees in Nursery. 1 1 3 

opinion and practice. If the young tree will be content to make 
a straight switch with good buds in the axils of the leaves, but 
no laterals thrown out, it will be in the best possible shape for 
planting in the orchard, and gives the planter a chance to make 
the head at whatever height suits him, and to secure uniformity- 
through the orchard. All trees will not, however, be content 
with this growth, but will push out laterals all along the stem. 
Even in this case some let the whole growth go for the planter 
to treat as he thinks best. Another plan is to go over the nur- 
sery when the young stock is about two feet high and pinch 
back the laterals part way, but leaving on the leaves nearest the 
stem to shade it. This pinching back is done from the ground 
up to a height of one to one and a half feet, and above that the 
growth is left to take its natural course, to be cut as desired 
when the head of the tree is formed. Pinching back develops 
buds near the stem and gives the planter a better chance to head 
the tree lower if he likes. Another practice which prevails to 
some extent, and is strongly advocated by I. H. Thomas, of Tu- 
lare County, is to pinch off the terminal bud when the young 
tree has reached a height of about two and a half or three feet 
in the nursery. This soon forces a growth of lateral branches, 
which are in turn pinched after they have grown out a couple of 
feet. The result is the formation of a head on a nursery tree the 
first year, and when such trees are planted in orchard they are 
merely cut back on the laterals, leaving the head as formed in 
the nursery. Such trees are difficult to handle in packing and 
take much room in shipment. There may, however, be an ad- 
vantage in such practice for the home grower if he is situated 
in parts of the State where the greatest season's growth is attained. 
Orchard planters generally, however, prefer a dormant bud or a 
yearling of moderate growth, without laterals. 

CLASSES OF NURSERY STOCKS. 

The several classes of stock which are to be had from nur- 
series are as follows: — 

Root Grafts. — These are seedling roots, or pieces of them 
on which scions of the desired variety have been grafted on the 
bench and the junction healed over in the cellar. No growth 
has yet started in the scion. If the tree planter wishes this kind 
of stock he should plant it out in nursery row in the spring and 
remove the trees to orchard the following winter. 

June Buds. — For the multiplying some desirable varieties 
very fast, buds are kept dormant in a cool place; or, by pinching 



114 Changing over Old Trees. 

off the top, shoots of the current year are forced to mature buds 
very early. These buds are put into seedling stocks as early in 
the season as possible. After budding, the top of the stock is 
girdled with knife or cord, or partly cut away, and growth is 
forced on the bud so as to give a small tree at the end of the 
first summer. 

Dormant Buds. — Trees are sold in dormant bud when 
they are lifted from the nursery and sent out before any growth 
has started on the inserted bud. The bud should be seen to be 
the color of healthy bark. 

Yearling Trees. — These are trees which have made one 
season's growth from the bud or graft. Two-year-olds have 
made two seasons' growth, and so on. The proper way to count 
the life of a tree is from the starting of growth in the bud or 
graft, for this point is really the birth of the tree. 

WORKING OVER OLD TREES. 

Another operation which may be properly considered as a 
branch of propagation is the working over of old trees. There 
is much of this being done every year in this State. The old 
seedling fruits in the older settled parts of the State are being 
made t«) bear improved varieties; trees of varieties illy adapted 
to the prevailing conditions are changed into strong growing 
and productive sorts; trees are changed from one fruit to another, 
as with the tens of thousands of unproductive almonds which 
have been worked over into plums, prunes, and peaches. Still 
another reason for working over is to secure more valuable and 
marketable varieties. Sometimes a mixed orchard is made to 
bear a straight line of one sort which is in demand, or when the 
grower finds he has too many trees of a single kind, which give 
him more fruit than he can conveniently handle when it all ripens 
at one time, he works in other varieties so as to get a succession 
of varieties adapted to his purpose, and thus secures a longer 
working season in which to dispose of them. This is especially 
the case in large orchards of apricots, peaches, and plums, when 
the grower depends upon drying his crop. Information concern- 
ing the successive ripening of varieties can be gained from the 
special chapters on the different fruits. For all of these reasons, 
and others which need not be enumerated, the work of the prop- 
agator is continually going on even in our large bearing orchards. 
As with young trees, so with old, transforming the character of 
the tree is done both by budding and grafting. 



Budding in Old Wood. 1 1 5 

Budding Old Trees. — One way to prepare an old tree 
for budding, is to cut back the branches severely during the 
winter, which has the effect of forcing out new shoots around 
the head of the tree, and in these the buds of the desired variety 
are set in the summer, just as is done in budding nursery stock, 
except that the budding should be done rather earlier because 
the sap does not run as late. When the shoots are budded, 
those being selected which are situated so as to give the best 
symmetry to the new head, the shoots not budded are broken a 
foot or so from where they emerge from the old wood, and are 
allowed to hang until pruning-time. At the winter pruning, the 
budded branches are topped off a little above the bud and when 
the new shoot starts it is often loosely tied to the stub of the old 
branch to prevent breaking out in the wind. When it gets 
strength the stub is cut away smoothly to allow the wound to 
heal over. 

Another way is to insert the buds in the old bark at points 
where it is desirable to have the new branches start. This is 
sometimes done by lifting the bark, as in ordinary budding, and 
slipping the bud under, sometimes by what is called shield or 
plate budding, which consists in removing a piece of the old 
bark entirely and putting in its place a piece of bark of the 
desired variety, having upon it a dormant bud. With plate 
budding it is necessary to be careful to have the inserted bark 
just the size of the bared spot, and to wrap it more closely than 
when the bud is slipped under the bark of the stock. In all 
cases in budding old trees, care must be taken to get fully 
matured buds, and it is well to take them from large shoots, 
which have a thicker and firmer bark than may be used in bud- 
ding nursery stock. It is also desirable to be very sure that the 
buds are taken not only from a tree of the desired variety, but 
from a healthy, vigorous tree of that variety. 

In selected buds also, one must be sure that he gets leaf buds, 
and not fruit buds only. In taking buds from bearing trees, of 
course, he may sometimes, to get well-ripened buds, be obliged 
to take both fruit and leaf buds together. This will work well 
if care is taken not to rub off the leaf bud. It is rather easier 
however, to work with buds from young trees not yet in bearing 
if one can be sure that these trees are of the desired variety. 

Grafting Old Trees. — Old trees are also renewed by 
grafting. This is most generally done by the old process of 
" top grafting," as practiced at the East. The main stem or the 
larger branches are cut square off, and the scions, usually two, 
but four or more if in the trunk, are shaped and set into clefts 



ii6 



Cleft, Side, and Bark Grafts. 




in the stock as shown in the engraving. It is bet- 
ter to use limbs than to graft in the trunk, if the old 
trees are of good size. The following description, 
which the writer borrows in part from some unknown 
source, will serve to guide novices in the matter: — 

The outfit necessary for doing the work consists of a small, fine 
saw, a regular grafting knife, or a pocket knife with a long, straight, 
sharp blade, wax, light mallet, and a hard-wood narrow wedge. 
After selecting the limb to be grafted, saw it off— -your own judgment 
will guide you as to best point, but before the saw gets quite through 
the limb, cut the bark on the under side of the limb to prevent the 
liability of peeling down. 

Next split the stub with knife and mallet and insert the wedge Cleft Graft 
in the center of the cleft to hold it open. It is usual to cut the scion i^ Qld Wood. 
with two buds, but sometimes belter results are had by using scions 
with but a single bud. Whittle the scion wedge-shape, so that it fits nicely down into 
the cleft. To do this, hold it in the left hand with the bud at the ball of the thumb, 
then cut the side toward you; as will be natural, turn it over, and cut opposite side in 
the same way, making the wedge a very little thinner on the edge opposite the bud 
than the other. This will insure a firm pressure at the points where the bark of 
scion and stock meet. 

V^Hien set the bud of the scion will be on line with the outer long portion of the 
graft. The point to be closely observed in adjustment is to have the inner or sap 
bark of the scion connect with the same of the stock. If a trifle too far in, or too 
far out, the work will be a failure. Some people set the graft a little out at the top 
and a little in at the bottom, so as to be sure of a connection at the crossing-point, 
but there will be firmer hold if there is a union the whole length. Our rule has been 
to have the wood of the scion come exactly even with the surface of the stock wood, 
and we seldom fail in getting firm adhesions and solid limbs, after years of growth. 

After the scions are set, and two should be put into one limb if large, carefully 
withdraw the wedge and apply -the wax, so that every part of the wood and bark cut 
and split it well coated. In doing this use extreme care not to move the scions at all 
from their sittings. 

Most grafting over of old trees is done by this method, 
using one or another of the wax preparations described upon a 
preceding page. If the cut surface of the stock and the split is 
thoroughly waxed over as low as the bark is split, there is 
usually little trouble with the growth of the scion and the heal- 
ing over of the stock. In the warmer valleys in the interior, the 
sun is often hot enough to melt the wax and cause it to run and 
bare the wood surfaces. This is prevented by dusting the wax 
thoroughly with brick-dust well powdered. 

For grafting over trees by working upon the limbs, the 
neatest and surest work can be done by methods of grafting 
which do not require the splitting of the stock. There are 
various ways of doing this. One method is shown in the en- 
graving on the next page, and consists in cutting the scion as 
shown, and inserting it beneath the raised bark and then bind- 
ing well with waxed bands, the preparation of which has al- 
ready been described. 

Another method is an application of what the French call 



Times for Grafting in California. 



117 




oblique side grafting. It consists in making an oblique cut 

downward through the bark of the stock and for a distance 

into the wood, using a chisel and mallet or even a strong knife. 

This graft has already been shown earlier in this chapter. In 

it the scion is held in with a wax band. Some 

growers remove the top of the stock with a 

sloping cut about half an inch above the scion, ^ 

as shown in the engraving, and wrap the waxed 

band well around and over all the exposed 

surfaces. Others do not remove the whole of 

the limb until the scion has started well into ^[j 

growth, and then they cut down and pare the 

stock and cover with a band or with a wax that 

will not run in the sun. 

Several ingenious devices have been pat- 
ented by Californians for securing uniformity in 
the incision in the stock and in shaping the 
scion. Though there is promise in such de- Grafting in the 
vices, they have not yet come into general use Bark. 

so as to warrant description. 

TIMES FOR GRAFTING IN CALIFORNIA. 

There is nothing particularly new about the methods or 
means employed for grafting in California, but the time at 
which the operation can be successfully done, and the condition 
of the scion, are different from those held to be necessary in 
other climates. It is not at all requisite that the scions should 
be carefully stored away to keep them in a dormant condition 
nor that the grafter should haste to do his work in just such a 
state of sap-flow in the spring-time. It was early discovered 
that grafting could be successfully done with growing scions, 
and that scions could be cut from one tree and set in another 
nearly at any time the grafter desired. The use of growing 
scions does especially well with the peach. If the top of the 
scion is waxed the leaves do not even wither. The cherry has 
been successfully grafted with scions in bloom. Grafting is 
therefore possible much later in the season than is prescribed 
elsewhere, and it is also possible to begin earlier. In one of the 
largest apple and pear orchards in the State, in which perhaps 
more grafting has been done than in any other orchard, it is 
common to graft in December. The absence of freezing weather 
saves the graft from injury. As our trees start their flow of sap 
early, and often when the ground is too wet for comfortable 
orchard work, it is the practice of many to get their grafting 
and pruning done before the heavy mid-winter rains begin. 1 he 



Ii8 Points 171 Ca/ifornian Practice. 

practice of most growers is, however, to conform somewhat 
nearly to traditional methods, to do most of the grafting in the 
spring months, and to use dormant scions, the growth of which 
is retarded by heeling them in on the north side of a building, 
or keeping them in sand in the cellar, as the grower chooses. 
Of course it should be understood that there are parts of the 
State where the winter conditions are more nearly like those at 
the East, and practice has to conform to them. 

As to whether it is better to remove the whole top of the 
tree and graft all the limbs in one year, there is some difference 
of opinion. The prevailing practice is to graft over part of the 
limbs one year and the balance the following )'ear. 

What has been said thus far relates especially to the work- 
ing over of old trees of common deciduous fruits. Though much 
the same method will succeed with some of the semi-tropical 
fruits and with nut trees, the discussion of their propagation and 
grafting over will be deferred to the chapters devoted to them, 
and this will also give opportunity to describe methods espe 
cially adapted to these fruits. 



CHAPTER X. 
PREPARATION FOR PLANTING. 

The two essentials in preparing land for trees or vines are 
deep and thorough cultivation, and provision for drainage, unless 
the situation is naturally well drained. Drainage will be consid- 
ered in a separate chapter, to which the reader is referred. In 
this place, however, by way of emphasis, it may be remarked 
that high land is not necessarily well drained, although the gen- 
eral feature of the surface may be an incline, nor is low land 
necessarily wet, although the surface may be apparently level. 
For horticultural purposes the drainage of the land must be 
considered on the hillside as well as in the valley, for reasons 
which will be more fully set forth in the chapter on drainage. 

For the planting of orchard or vineyard the land must be 
put in as good tilth as possible, and extra expenditure to 
secure this will be amply repaid in the after-growth of the 
trees and vines. If practicable, it will be all the better to have 
the process of preparation begin a year before the plants are to 
be set. This is true either with newly cleared land, as has been 
described, or with old grain or pasture land which is to be used 
for fruit. Thorough and deep breaking up as soon as practica- 
ble to plow in the fall, and leaving the surface rough during the 
winter, facilitates the access of air to the lower layers of the soil, 
and in a certain sense may be said to sweeten and enliven it. 
Following in the furrow with a subsoil plow is very desirable, 
either at the first plowing or later. Such treatment of old grain 
land breaks up the old hardpan which has probably been formed 
by years of shallow culture. The preparation should continue 
during the following summer, and can often be made both thor- 
ough and profitable by the growth of a summer "hoed crop," 
the culture of which will kill out many weeds and secure good 
pulverization of the soil. If no summer crop is grown the land 
should be kept in cultivation by plowing the weeds under as 
long as the surface soil retains moisture enough to start them. 
A special advantage of such summer-fallow in regions where 
the rainfall is apt to be short is that by prevention of evapora- 
tion the trees or vines set the following winter will have a good 
part of the rainfall of two seasons to grow with, and the result 
will often be very noticeable. If there are supplies of manure 

(119) 



I20 



Manuring and P hiving. 



available, as is often found in old corrals on our grain or stock 
farms, it is better to gather and apply this the winter before the 
planting of the trees. If this work is not done then it should 
be left until after the trees are planted, and then be spread upon 
the surface during the winter, and plowed in in the spring after 
it has been in part leached into the soil by the rains. Application 
should be made evenly all over the surface and not massed 
around the roots of the trees, unless it is to be applied as a 
mulch to the surface after the spring cultivation is over, as will 
be considered later. 

If it is thought desirable to plant the land immediately after 
breaking up, put in the plows as early in the fall as it is possible 
to do deep work ; that is, to plow to a depth often or twelve inches, 
or more. Harrow thoroughly. If it is still early, cross-plow 
also deeply when the land pulverizes well, and follow in the fur- 
row with the subsoil plow, working to a depth of fourteen inches 
or more. For this kind of work good teams are needed, and 
the plow should be sharp and bright. If the work is hard for 
the team, set the plow so as to take less land, but do not sacrifice 
the depth. Harrow again thoroughly and the land is ready for 
the trees or vines. 

Avoiding Dead Furrows. — Unless dead furrows can be 
used to advantage for surface drainage in case of heavy rain- 
storms, it will be of decided convenience in laying off to have 

the field free from them. This can, 
of course, be secured by beginning the 
final plowing at a line in the center 
of the field, turning all furrows in- 
wards. In this case, too, if a right- 
hand plow is used, the team will al- 
ways turn on unplowed land, and 
7. ^. _Y— — ^ thus avoid trampling upon and pack- 
ing the loose soil. The slight ridge 
in the center of the field formed by 
the first two furrows can be easily 
leveled by a couple of back -furrows, 
and when properly harrowed the field 
will be found smooth as a floor for stak- 
ing out for planting. 




Planting in Squares. 



LAYING OUT FOR PLANTING IN SQUARES. 

It is very desirable, both for convenience in cultivation and 
for the beauty of the orchard, that the trees should stand in 



Laying Out in Squaj'es. 



121 



straight lines, and care should be taken to attain that end. 
Most orchards and vineyards in this State are laid out in squares; 
that is, the rows of trees or vines are all at right angles to 
each other, as shown in the accompanying sketch. This is the 
simplest arrangement, and by some of our largest planters is 
held to be the best. It is true that the trees are not equidi.stant 
from each other in all directions, and that, theoretically at least, 
there is a portion of the ground unused — supposing that the 
roots occupy a circle, as do the branches. Practically, however, 
it may be doubted whether the hungry roots of well-grown trees 
or vines leave any portion of the soil unvisited. 

4_ t_a-. 'SL ti- ^ a. a. 'tL ^ 

i 4. IL a. ^ <i- C •«. ^. 

L .a_ % a. a. 4 ^ a_ 

a- .^ € a. £L. a_ iL 4 
a. SL »a ^ a. a. .a. >iL 

d_ !&. (a_ '(Sl ^ ii- jJL ^ 

a. a. s. O- 4_ a_ a_ ■a_ 
^% ^ 'ii, ^1 ^ § ' 

Double Squares. 

There is also a form of double squares which is described by 
Mr. Lelong* as coming into favor among those setting out seed- 
ling orange trees as standards, with dwarf varieties between them. 
The same plan is available for planting figs, walnuts, or apples, 
at long distances, with early bearing trees between, which are 
ultimately to be cutout, or for vines between fruit trees. 

Still another plan is the alternating of large and small 
trees, which is also desirable when the small growths are to serve 
their purpose and be removed. 

Various Ways of Marking for Squares. — There are 
various ways of marking off land in squares for trees or vines. 
If a man has a good eye he can lay out lines almost faultlessly 
with very simple appliances, and these may be mentioned before 
considering more exact methods. 

W. W. Smith, of Vacaville, marked off his large and famous 




♦Treatise on Citrus Culture in California, by B. M. Leiong, page 6o. 



122 Use of the Wheelbarroiv and Plow. 

orchard with a wheelbarrow. He fastens on the cross-piece back 
of the wheel an upright strip rising high enough to strike the 
level of the eye when the handles are in the hands. He begins 
by setting a stake in the center of the field, and two more in 
line on each side of the center. By starting at one side and 
keeping the eye at first on the line of four stakes, and after- 
wards on three, and so on, you can make a straight track with 
the wheelbarrow across the field. Then with a pole, in length 
equal to the desired width between the rows, you can re-set the 
stakes for another line, and thus cover the field with parallel 
lines. Proceed again with the lines, at right angles to the first, 
and the intersections indicate the places for the trees. 

The writer has seen Mr. Smith's orchard, and can testify to 
the regularity of the rows, but acknowledges that in attempting 
himself to apply Mr. Smith's method in his own planting, was 
obliged to abandon it, as he was unable to run the line straight. 

Laying Out with the Plow. — Another way to mark off 
the orchard or vineyard in squares, is with the plow. Mr. Mason, 
of Los Gatos, planted a twenty-acre orchard as follows: On the 
fence, at each end and side of the field, he nailed marks at the 
distance apart which he desired the rows of trees, and then 
starting with a plow drawn by a double team, from mark No. i 
at one end he went straight to mark No. i at the* other. Re- 
turning, he drove one horse in the furrow already made, back 
again to the starting-point. Thus he had made a double fur- 
row. This he repeated from end to end and from side to side, 
until the field presented the appearance of a checker-board. 
Then, with the assistance of two men, he dug in each double 
furrow, at the crossings, a hole one foot deep, and at the bottom 
loosened the soil with a spading fork. He then planted the trees, 
and in this manner was enabled to set out the whole number, 
3,000 trees, in six weeks, and it is stated by one who visited the 
orchard, that the trees stand in line with gratifying regularity. 
The objections to this method, however, would be, first, the dis- 
placing of all the soil in the furrows between the trees, which 
would require subsequent leveling; second, the danger of plant- 
ing in furrows in some soils is considerable, because the water is 
apt to follow these extra deep furrows and settle about the roots 
of the young trees. In loose, well-drained soils, however, this 
objection does not hold. 

An important modification of this method has been used 
recently in laying off some large orchards in the Sacramento 
Valley. It does not depend upon fence marks. A common 
two-horse turning plow is rigged with a " marker," — a light 



Measuring and Sighting. 123 

wooden bar extending at right angles from the beam, the bar 
being as long as the desired distance between the rows of trees. 
On the end of this bar a cross-piece is fastened perpendicularly, 
so that it scratches along on the surface of the ground. The 
line of the first furrow has to be designated by a flag stake, to 
which the plowman proceeds. When this is done, the team is 
turned and sent back along the next row, the location of which 
has been fixed by the marker, and so on for the length of the 
field, the marker being turned each time to indicate the next fur- 
row. Following the same course the other way of the field 
leaves the trees to be planted at the intersection of the furrows. 

Marking off with Shovels. — Another way to proceed 
from marks on the fences or from stakes at the sides of the field, 
is as follows: Place these marks or stakes all around the field, 
at the distances desired for the rows. Let two men take two 
ropes long enough to reach from side to side, the men at opposite 
sides on the field. They fasten the ends of these ropes at marks 
one and two, drawing them tight, so that they stretch across the 
field parallel to each other, and represent the position of the first 
and second rows of trees. Let the two men take shovels and 
walk towards each other, marking along in the soil with the 
shovel the course of the rope until they meet in the center of the 
field. Then the men go to the next rope, and, beginning in the 
center, mark towards the ends. Then they move the two ropes 
to the next two marks at the sides and proceed as before. By 
continuing this work until the marks are all drawn one way 
across the field, and then doing the same from the marks on the 
other two sides, the field is laid off in squares and the trees or 
vines are to be set at the intersections of the lines. 

Measure and Sight. — Another method which is quite 
commonly used and answers a good purpose in small plantings 
is the combination of measure and sight. The sighting-stakes 
are usually plasterers' laths pointed at one end and whitewashed 
to make them more visible to the eye. In the use of these it is 
necessary to measure the distances and locate the laths to mark 
the ends of the rows all around the field. Then locate a line of 
laths across the field each way through the center, these laths 
occupying places which the trees of these two central rows will 
fill. After these are in place, measurement can be dispensed 
with, and the job can be finished by sighting through. The 
man on the ends of the rows has three laths to sight by in each 
row, and the stake driver places the stakes as directed by the 
sighter. Good location can be done this way if a man has a 
good eye and patience enough. 



124 ^-^^^ Measuring Wire. 

Marking off with a Wire. — A measuring wire or 
chain is, perhaps, the best means for getting accurate location of 
trees or vines. It is used either for setting in squares or in 
other arrangement, as will be described presently. Measuring 
wires are made of annealed steel wire about one-eighth of an 
inch in diameter. The length varies according to the wishes of 
the user. If it is desired to lay off the plantation in blocks of 
one acre, the wire should be two hundred and eight feet nine inches 
long, for that is approximately the length of one side of a square 
inclosing an acre of ground. But some use a wire as long as 
three hundred feet, when the acre measure is of no consequence; 
and others, in smaller plantings, make the wire just the length of 
the piece they have in hand. At each end of the wire is fixed a 
strong iron ring about one and one-half inches in diameter, to 
be slipped over stakes; some use a larger ring, say three inches 
in diameter, because it is easier to handle in pulling taut. 
Along this wire, patches of solder are placed exactly at the dis- 
tances desired between the rows of trees or vines, and to these 
places pieces of red cloth are sometimes fastened so that 
the points may be easily seen. Another style of measuring 
wires is made of a small wire cable about a quarter of an inch 
in diameter, made of several strands of small wire. It is more 
flexible and less likely to become kinked than the large wire, and 
can be easily measured and marked off to represent the distances 
at which rows of different kinds of trees should be placed. This 
is done by separating the strands a little at the desired points 
and inserting a little piece of red cloth, pressing the wires to- 
gether again and tying firmly with a waxed thread to prevent 
slipping. In this way the same wire can be easily arranged for 
planting vines or for the trees requiring the greatest distance 
between the rows. Another advantage of the cable is, that any 
stretching can be taken up by re-twisting, which cannot be done 
with the stretching of a single wire. 

Finding a True Corner. — To use the measuring wire 
for laying out trees oji the square, it is necessary first to get one 
corner true, and then a field of any size can be marked out 
accurately. Select the side of the field which is to serve as the 
base of the square and stretch the wire along that, say fifteen 
feet from the fence, which will give room enough to turn with 
the team in cultivation or to drive along in picking-time. When 
the wire is thus stretched parallel with the boundary of the field, 
place a stake at each of the distance tags on the wire, and these 
stakes will represent the first row of trees or vines. To find a 
square corner, begin at the starting-point and measure off sixty 



Laying off on Hillsides. i 2 5 

feet along this row with a tape-Hne, and put a temporary stake, 
then from the starting-point measure off eighty feet as nearly at 
a right angle with the first line as can be judged with the eye, 
and run diagonally from this point to the temporary sixty-foot 
stake. If the distance between these stakes is one hundred feet, 
then the corner is a right angle. Now having the two outside 
lines started at right angles to each other, one can proceed with 
the measuring wire and lay off as large an area as he desires, 
if care is taken to have each line drawn parallel with the last, 
and all stakes accurately placed with the tags on the wire — pro- 
viding the land is nearly level or on a uniform grade. In locat- 
ing trees over uneven ground, the measurements will have to 
be made from tree to tree, with the tape-line held as nearly to a 
level as possible. 

Rows ON Hillsides. — Laying off orchard or vineyard 
on steep hill-side is generally done in the same way as on level 
land, as nearly as possible, but there is advantage sometimes in 
departing from these rules. Mr. G. W. Thissell, of Pleasant 
Valley, Solano County, has had much experience in hillside 
fruit growing, and he advises that, on land too steep to plow both 
ways, and where constantly all plowing and cultivating has to 
be done one way, the rows up and down the hill be placed 
nearly twice as far apart as the rows along the face of the hill. 
In planting trees thus, the advantage to be gained is b}- enabling 
you to keep the team well up the hill; thereby you are able to 
plow or cultivate the trees close on the lower side of the rows. 
There is no difficulty in cultivating the upper side of the rows, 
for the plow or harrow is always below the team. If trees are 
planted as recommended, the team can be guided up the hill a 
little between the rows, then allowed to drop down hill one step, 
and thus one can cultivate the trees close on the lower side. The 
same rule will apply to vines. 

QUINCUNX PLANTING. 
There is much confusion in the use of this term in this State. 
It is, in fact, made to cover almost every kind of arrangement 
which is not on the square. Webster defines the term to mean 
" the arrangement of things, especially of trees, by fives in a 
square, one being placed in the middle of a square." The 
proper use of the quincunx is for the location of some temporary 
growth which will serve its purpose and be finally removed, 
leaving the permanent growths in squares. Thus this form of 
planting has but limited use in this State. Trees set in quincunx 
would stand as shown in the accompanying diagram. To locate 
them in this form it is only necessary to proceed as already 



126 



The Ouincunx. 




described for planting in squares, by fixing upon the base 
line and locating two side lines to it at right angles. Place the 
stakes on these two lines just half the distance desired between 
the trees, and have the measuring wire long enough to reach 
across from one line 
to the other. Near 
one end of the wire 
place another mark 
just half way between 
the end and the first 
tree mark; that is, if 
the trees are to be 
twenty-four feet apart 
in the squares, this 
additional mark should 
be twelve feet from the 
end of the wire. Now 
set the first row with 
the end of the wire at 
the corner stake and 
set stakes at each 
twenty-four-foot mark. 
Proceed now to the 
first half-way stake, and 
instead of putting the end of the wire at this stake, put the 
twelve-foot mark there. Put stakes now at each tvventy-four- 
foot mark again to locate the trees in that row. In the next row 
put the end of the wire at the first stake and proceed as in the 
first row. Thereafter using the end of the wire and the twelve- 
foot marks alternately, the stakes will be set in quincunx all 
over the field. If the midway stakes are now pulled out along 
the two side lines, the remaining stakes show where the trees 
are to be placed. This way of planting locates about seventy- 
eight per cent more trees upon any given area, but it brings 
the trees at irregular distances from each other, and except 
in furnishing a way to arrange an orchard with permanent and 
temporary trees, there does not seem to be any advantage in it. 

PLANTING IN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLES. 

This is the arrangement generally implied when the term 
" quincunx " is wrongly employed. By it the trees are all equall)' 
distant from each other, and thus the ground as equally divided 
as possible. The arrangement admits fifteen per cent more 
trees to the acre than the setting in squares, and the ground can 
be worked in three different directions. This arraneement also 



Quincunx. 






1: 



Planting in Equilateral Triangles. 127 

gives better facilities for irrigation. Objections are urged to it, 
however, in that it does not admit of 
thinning trees by removal of alternate 
rows as is sometimes desirable, and that 
one has to take a zigzag course in driv- 
ing through the orchard. 

Hexagonal planting places the trees 
as shown in the accompanying sketch. 

It is termed hexagonal because, as the 
figure consists of six trees inclosing a 
seventh, a line drawn through the en- 
compassing trees makes a hexagon. It 
is also called septuple planting, because 
seven trees enter into its figure. 

There are various ways of laying off 
ground to place trees in this arrange- 
ment. Working from the diagram given 

herewith, set stakes at A, B, C, D and E, ^^^^^ Planted in 

^ .' ^ ,. , ,, ' '. ,' , Hexagons, 

m a straight hne, and the distance apart 

you wish the trees to stand. Then fasten a tape line at C, so 

that it will turn on the stake, and from B describe a circle to F, 

G, D, H, I, and to the start- 

,,A.. ing-point, B. Now with the 

"~^^-,^ ,---'' i ^^ ,- ' ' line divide the circle, starting 

~;.<' ,--!—.. %<'' at B, or D, into six equal 

..- ' ' i ~N-;' ; >,-'' I "'-^.^ spaces, and set stakes at F, G, 

.. •-';-~,j| ^>B:;'' !,.--!-,, •; H and I. You now have six 

y--.. i ...'V' I \/''^ ! ''>,-''' trees surrounding a seventh, 

( ,-•''!'.. ; >+<'i >feC i any three of which standing 

,..--'''\.^ \ .^'^'., I ,,'%' i ''~v-4 the nearest together are ex- 

*-■-., ,''''"r'^.; .--"fV ;,'-""'"!'■'-'''. > actly equidistant, and more 

y--., I ,,-'-x I ,-/^-- i ,''■'■;'' completely fill the space than 

i. ,,''^f\ i'-''T''~J, ^.--G'C ; ^"y other arrangement can. 

^,^'-''\ \ ">'x^ ! ,-'''X i ''''~~~- "^" orchard can be laid 

*"•--,, "'-'r'' \ .,' -?\ ; ''--i— '' > out in hexagonals by using 

^'\|,,-'''\^ I y\ I,,.-''' the measuring wire as de- 

,.'-''"-\ "':"" /''\. scribed for quincunx plant- 

"~^- . J ,.'-''' '^ ~-.^ ing with the distance and 

"^ "' half-distance marks, except 

Diagram for Hex.^gonal Planting. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^j^^ ^^^^^^ j^ ^j^^ 

side rows must be placed at different distances apart. Mr. H. 
A. Brainard, of San Jose, gives* the following useful table, show- 
ing the distance for side stakes to reach desired distance between 



*Santa Clara Valley Nov., 1887, p. 137. 



lO ' 


' 4 2-5 


,12 ' 


' n 


13 ' 


' io!.< 


15 ' 


' 7 


17 ' 


' 4 


iS ' 


• 2-^ 


19 ' 


' % 


2U " 


9K 



128 Guide to Setting Rozvs. 

the trees, and the method of calculating the numbers of trees to 
the acre by the square and hexagonal or septuple arrangement: — 

Trees set Septuple Check-stakes should be 

10 feet apart 8 ft. 8 in. 

12 " 

14 " 

16 " 

18 " 

20 " 

21 " 

22 " 

24 " 

After the field is staked, each alternate stake in the check rows should be re- 
moved. The following table will show the number of trees to the acre by the square 
and septuple system: — 

Square. .Septuple. 

10 feet apart 435 500 

12 " 302 347 

14 " 222 255 

16 " 170 195 

18 " 134 154 

20 " 109 125 

21 " 99 114 

22 " 90 103 

24 " 75 86 

For any distances not given in the above table, calculate the number of trees to the 
acre by the square system, and add fifteen per cent. This will give the number if 
planted septuple. 

LAYING OFF A TEN-ACRE ORCHARD IN HEXAGONALS. 
Mr. P. W. Butler, of Penryn, Placer County, gives* the 
following explicit directions for laying off a ten-acre orchard 
in hexagonals, with proper driveways around the outside and 
through the center of the tract: — 

Take a steel wire, two hundred and thirteen feet 1 ong and about one-quarter of 
an inch in diameter, composed of several strands. Three feet from one end open the 
strands, and draw through the opening a piece of flannel one-half an inch wide and 
one inch long; wrap the flannel around the wire and close the opening, then tie the 
flannel firmly with a waxed end. Place twenty-four of these marks on the wire at 
the exact distance of nine feet from each other, alternating with white and red, and 
the last mark will be three feet from the end. Attach each end of the line to a hard- 
wood stake two feet long, and it is ready for use. 

Take a second wire one hundred and ninety-three feet long, and beginning three 
feet from the end, attach thirteen marks at equal distances of fifteen feet and seven 
inches, and fasten the ends to stakes as above. The length of this line between the 
extreme marks will be one hundred and eighty -seven feet, and the length of the first 
line will be two hundred and seven feet. When trees are planted eighteen feet apart, 
in equilateral triangles, the rows will be fifteen thousand five hundred and eighty- 
eight feet distant from each other. This can be ascertained if the trees are set at 
any distance apart, by obtaining the square of the distance, and from it subtract the 
square of one-half the distance, and the square root of the remainder will be the dis- 
tance between rows. 

To lay out and mark for planting a square field of ten acres proceed as follows: 
Take eight redwood fence posts seven feet long that are free from knots. Saw them 



*PnciJic Rural Press, iS 




'cr.-.^aii.^t 



A Ten- A ere Orchard in Hexas:ons. 



129 



into five pieces of equal lengths and split them into stakes of about three-cjuarters 
inch square, and they will make about one thousand four hundred stakes (the number 
desired), and these are to be set in the exact position in which the trees are to be 
planted. 

Two parallel avenues should run through the field dividing it into three plots of 
equal size. This can be done by leaving out one row of trees to form the avenue. 

Sufficient distance should be left lietween the trees and fence to allow a team to 
pass along without coming in contact with the trees when full grown. Fruit can 
then be collected and placed on conveyances either on the avenues or along the line 
of the fence, without carrying by hand a distance of more than one hundred feet from 
center of plots. 



* n 



>•»•«« 




Diagram for Laying Out Ten Acres in Equilateral Triangles. 

Attach a white flag to a pole of sufficient length to be seen from the opposite 
side of the field, and in a corner put it into the ground at a point nineteen and one- 
half feet from the fence that runs at right angles with the avenues, and eighteen and 
one-fourth feet from the fence that runs parallel to the avenues; then cross the ends of 
the proposed avenues to the opposite corner. Place a similar pole at the same dis- 
tance of nineteen and one-half feet from the one fence and eighteen and one- fourth 
feet from the other; and at the other side of the inclosure place a pole at each cor- 
ner at the same distances from the fence, being careful that they are firmly set in the 

9 



130 Explicit Directions. 

ground and in an exactly perpendicular position. Stretch rhe fifteen-foot-seven-inch 
line in the direction to cross the avenues; place the mark nearest the end against the 
pole, and drive the stake attached to the line into the ground; have the man at the 
other end draw the line taut and place a pole with a flag attached m the ground at the 
mark nearest his hand that will be in a direct line with the pole on the opposite cor- 
ner; then drive the stake to which the line is fastened, and each person pass along 
the line and set stakes at every mark, being careful that the line is always kept 
straight, and the stakes all set on the same side of the line. Continue in the same 
direction, and from the last pole place another at two marks, as a base. This marks 
the avenue. 

Place the line with.another pole at the end, as before, and stake; proceed with 
the line, and at two marks from the last pole, place another, and the distance between 
this and the one at the corner should be just one hundred and eighty-seven feet, or 
the length of the line, but should there be a variation, the corner pole should be 
changed to the exact point reached by the last mark on the line, and that must be 
the permanent corner. Now, with the same line proceed to the opposite side of the 
field, and run a parallel line, and place the poles and stakes in the same manner as 
before described, moving the corner pole if necessary, and meet the mark at the end 
of the line. The fifteen-foot-seven-inch line is always used in a direction that crosses 
the avenues, and the nine-foot line only in a direction parallel to the avenue. Now, 
take the other line and proceed to cross the field at right angles to the last. Place a 
pole at the end of the line, and at intervals of eighteen feet set stakes, and the last 
stake, which will make thirty- five in the line, should be nine feet from the pole in 
the corner; but if it is not just that distance move the pole to that point, and then 
the first row of stakes set must be changed, and make a straight line between the 
corner poles. 

Run a parallel line on the opposite side of the field in the same manner, placing a 
pole at the end of the line at each length and stake between, when the field will be 
inclosed by stakes that are in exact position. Now, with the same line place stakes 
on each side of the avenues, at intervals of eighteen feet, beginning with each row on 
the same side of the field, and the last stake in each row will not reach the opposite 
pole by nine feet. With the fifteen-foot-seven-inch line, now set stakes between the 
poles across the avenues. There will be two lines of these central stakes, and these 
set you have no further use for the fifteen-foot-seven-inch line. The field can now 
be staked to completion with the nine-foot line. Place the line in position, and if the 
first row of stakes were set by the red marks, place the next ones by the white marks, 
alternating in this manner throughout the work. By drawing the line taut, and giv- 
ing it a swing, it can readily be moved to the next stakes. The utmost care should 
be taken to see that the line is always kept straight and not moved while the stakes 
are being set, and that all stakes are set on the same side of the line. 

In lining over a hill the mark at one end will not quite reach the pole or stake, 
and the difference in distance must be equally adjusted between all the stakes along 
the line. 

By carefully following the above directions there will not be a variation of an inch 
in the stakes from a direct line in looking across the field on a row in any direction, 
even if hilly, and the equilateral triangles will be perfect. After the staking is finished, 
pass along the four cross-lines, and remove every alternate stake, which will be found 
to be only nine feet from the others in the row. The diagram on this page will assist 
in making these directions plain to the reader. 

LAYING OUT HEXAGONALS WITH A TRIANGLE. 

It is possible to lay out an orchard in hexagonal form by 
working from stake to stake with an equilateral triangle of di- 
mensions equaling the distance required between the trees. 
The following method is described by Prof W. C. Damon, of 
Napa:* 



"Pacific Rural Press, Feb. 2, i8 



The Carrying Triangle. 



131 



Take three strips of one by two-inch dry pine or redwood, and as long as you 
want — say twenty-four feet for apples or pears, or twenty feet for cherries or plums. 
Cut the strips the same length, and fasten the corners of the triangle firmly together 
by nailing to pieces of pine board six by six inches. 

If the long strips are set up edgewise the triangle will be much stiffer and 
better to carry. Through the corner boards bore an inch hole, making sure that 
the three sides of the triangle measure exactly the same. If they do, the 
triangle must necessarily be perfect. Then brace it a little by nailing a lath across 
«ach corner, and it is ready for use. 

Now split out some three-quarter-inch pins, one foot long, from a good, straight- 
grained redwood post. Make one hundred pins for each acre you have to lay off. 
Do not use lath for pins, as they will cost double and will not be half as good. 

Three persons must now carry the triangle, beginning on one side of the field, 
say eight feet from the fence, and guided the first time through by a line of stakes. 

Carry the triangle with its side to the line of guide stakes and its point in. The 
head man and the inside man will stick pins, while the rear man will slip his corner 
each time upon the pin set by the head man. 

After the first time across, the man at the inside point of the triangle alone will 

set pins, while the other two fit their corners upon the pins in the last row set. Thus 

one row of pins only is set each time you go across the field. 
If the triangle is exact, and 

the first row of pins is set per- 
fectly straight, and the pins are 

always set perpendicularly, every- 
thing will now work like a charm 

and the job will be perfect; and 

it is so simple and easy that a 

man and two small boys can lay 

off from five to ten acres in one 

■day. Remember that no guide 

stakes are used anywhere after the 

first time through. 

The Triangle on 
Hillside. — The use of 
the trianorle has been 
found quite satisfactory 
on level land. Mr. Geo. 
A. Raymond, of Alma, 
reports that it requires a 
h'ttle nicety in "leveling 
up " where the piece is 
hilly. He writes: — 

I had three slopes, one to the west, one to the south, and the other one to the 
east. By using a plumb-line at two corners of the triangle, the third corner restmg 
on one of the stakes, leveling the triangle and bringing one of the plumb-hnes over 
another stake already .set, the position of the other line would determme the position 
of the stake I wished to set. This method worked fairly well, and I do not see but 
that the trees line as well as could be expected on uneven ground. In some places 
the slope was sufticient to give a fall of six feet between the trees, which were set 
twenty feet apart. 

Locating in Triangles with a Chain.— Instead of 
using a wooden triangle, Mr. W. R. Spaulding, of Los Angeles 
County, advises* the use of a chain in this way: — 




One Corner ok Triangle— All Being 
Made Alike. 



'■■Riverside i'ress, March, 18 



132 Equilatei'al Maj^king with a Chain. 

I first stretch a chain along one side of my orchard ground, setting by it the 
first row of stakes. This, I may say, forms the base line. I am provided with a 
piece of chain just twice the length of the established distance between trees, with 
ample rings on the ends and ajoint in the middle. I tell my boy to put one of the 
rings over the first stake and the other over the second stake. Then I take hold of 
the joint in the middle of the chain and stretch it out reasonably tight. My wire 
forms a letter V, at the focus of which I stand and proceed to stick a stake. The 
point is indicated with precision by the joint in the middle of the chain. The two 
ends being fixed and the chain stretched, the apex of my equilateral triangle falls in 
only the 'one place, and that is the place I want to find. My point determined, I tell 
the boy to take the ring off the first stake and put it over the third stake, leaving the 
one on the second stake where it is. Then I tighten my chain again, and another 
point is fixed. Thus I continue all the base line, making the boy shift the rings al- 
ternately, turning over the chain as one turns a pair of draughtsman's compasses in 
his hand when spacing off a line. The second row of stakes being set, I set the 
third row, and so on through the ground. I have followed this method in staking 
my orchard land this year, and I find it simple, accurate and quick. It only re- 
quires fixing one line to begin with, and after that ^he trees come just right if care is 
taken not to allow the chain to tangle its links. 

The suggestions given in this chapter should indicate ways 
enough to lay off orchard and vineyard ground to answer all 
needs, though there are other good ways not mentioned. It is 
hoped that the instructions will not be regarded as too explicit. 
They are intended for the guidance of the inexperienced planter, 
and will naturally seem laden with detail to those who have be- 
come familiar with the operations by repeated practice. 



CHAPTER XL 

PLANTING THE TREES. 

After the field has b^en thoroughly tilled and carefully laid 
off as has been described, the next step is digging the holes for 
the trees. " How large shall the holes be ? " He was a wise 
fruit grower who, when asked this question, replied, " As large 
as the field." That is to say, it is much better to work the whole 
ground over deeply than to trust to deep holes and shallow 
working elsewhere. Where this is done, the tree holes need 
only be large enough and deep enough to receive the roots with- 
out folding them in or cramping them up. In a loose, deep soil, 
however, one can dig extra deep and broad holes if he desires, 
and will be repaid by extra growth of the tree; but in a close, 
tenacious soil a deep hole is not only undesirable, but often 
positively a danger to the tree, unless drainage of the holes is 
provided artificially. Such holes hold water like a tub, and the 
loosening of the soil deeply facilitates its gathering in the hole. 
Many have found their trees in such places dwindling and dying 
because their roots were soaking in water. 

Planting on Some Shallow Soils. — As a rule, trees 
should have a deep soil, and for these deep, free loams, Califor- 
nia is famous, but there are situations where very satisfactory 
growth and production can be had, even when the hard-pan is 
near the surface and the soil would be called shallow. In such 
places it is the character of the subsoil which warrants the tree 
and vine planter in making use of them. The best illustration 
of such situations is the large area of what is called " bed-rock 
land," adjacent to the city of Sacramento, which has already 
been discussed in the chapter on soils. It is about twenty years 
since Mr. James Rutter, of Florin, began planting trees and 
vines on this soil, and he has lived to laugh atthose who laughed at 
him for choosing such a place for his orchard and vineyard. He 
early noticed that there were vines here and there which grew 
exceptionally well and bore large crops of fine fruit. He found 
by investigation that under these vines there were crevices in the 
bed-rock, and from this he took the hint to bore through this 

(133) 



1 34 Blasting Holes for Trees and Vines. 

hard-pan in the bottom of the hole where he placed the tree, and 
in this way he gained access for the roots to the subsoil and 
egress for the water through the permeable substratum. He 
bores a hole two inches in diameter into or through the bed-rock 
and rams well into it one and a half pounds of black blasting 
powder. After explodin'^- this, he sometimes bores a three-inch 
hole about four feet below the blast. Instead of blasting in the 
hole where the tree is to be planted, some bore and blast the 
hard-pan midway between the rows, placing the holes at " quin- 
cunx " with the trees. This practice, as described by the Sacra- 
mento Bee, is as follows: — 

A hole is first bored down through the surface earth and into or through the bed- 
rock, and into this hole the cartridge is inserted. The hole is then filled up with 
water, and when the cartridge is exploded its force is expended almost entirely downwaru 
and laterally. This shatters the bed-rock at a distance from the trunk. The trees 
have good drainage, and the roots of each have four different points of access to 
shattered bed-rock and the inexhaustible stores of plant food and moisture in the 
lower strata. The " spongioles," or fine fibers by which the roots feed, are found in 
greatest abundance at the extremities of the lateral roots. It is therefore important 
that the bed-rock should be broken up (if at all) at points where these myriad mouths 
of the tree may have easiest access to the opening and the fragments. For a tap- 
rooted tree, it may seem desirable to have a hole bored directly under the trunk. 

The shattering of the hard-pan between the trees is said to 
be practicable after the trees are growing, and may in certain 
soils relieve trees which are suffering for lack of drainage. 

There are situations here and there over the State where simi- 
lar practice would be beneficial, and in some cases mere digging 
or boring through the impervious stratum avails much. On the 
bench back from the Mokelumne there are spots where "lava 
crusts " overlies gravel, and trees have been well grown by cut- 
ting holes through the lava to the gravel, filling with good soil 
and planting the trees in these holes. Their roots penetrate to 
the gravel stratum and obtain abundant moisture and nutriment. 
This " lava " is quite soft when not exposed to the air. But be- 
ing quarried hardens so as to serve as building stone. 

In certain situations where a shallow layer of soil overlies a 
heavy clay, trees have been blown over, but when a cut has been 
made through the clay, the trees have rooted deeply and have 
withstood the winds. 

The benefits of holes for drainage have been clearly shown 
by years of observation at Marysville, where in planting shade 
trees it is customary to bore down about fifteen feet, until a 
stratum of gravel is reached. These matters do not, of course, 
enter largely into the calculations of the California fruit-tree 
planter, but they are of occasional application and may help 
some to understand peculiar behaviour of their trees. 



Digging Holes and Setting Trees. 135 

Digging the Holes.— Holes for tree planting may be 
dug at a leisure time after the laying off of the field even though 
it is not designed to plant the trees immediately, but our largest 
planters do not approve the practice. In such cases the sides of 
the holes should always be freshly pared off before the trees 
are put in, because the rain and sunshine are apt to cement the 
sides. In digging holes the surface earth should always be 
thrown on one side and the lower soil on another. The object of 
this is to have the top soil to place in direct contact with the roots 
when the tree is planted, the lower soil being used to fill up the 
hole with. 

An interesting apparatus for digging holes by horse-power 
has recently been introduced by Truman, Hooker & Co., of San 
Francisco. It consists of an earth auger mounted on a truck 
and the horse works the auger both down and up by means of 
a sweep. The auger cuts a hole two feet in diameter, but any 
desirable size can be furnished, and the hole is cut three feet deep 
or less as desired. It is well spoken of by those who have used 
it. It is called the " Lightning Tree Planter." 

TREE SETTERS. 

No matter how carefully the stakes are placed in laying off 
the orchard, the trees will not easily come in line unless some 
handy device is used for bringing the stem just in the place oc- 
cupied by the stake which was thrown out in digging. These 



Bar for Tree Setting. 

devices are called " tree setters," and there are a number of de- 
signs. Two are given, either of which will give good results. 
Take a piece of board one inch thick, four inches wide, and five 
feet long; bore an inch hole in the center, and one at each end 
at equal distance from the center; then cut a piece from one side 
of the board, marked by a square, the corner resting in the mid- 
dle of the center hole. Make two stakes, each one foot long, 
that will easily pass through the end holes. Place the center of 
this board against the stake; where the tree is to be planted 
push the stakes into the ground through the holes in the ends, 
then lift the board from position and proceed to dig the hole. 
When dug replace the board over the end stakes in its former 



136 



Using the Tree Setter. 



position, then plant the tree with its trunk resting against the 
center notch in the board, and you have it in just the right place.* 

Another setter is in the form of a triangle: Take three 
pieces of plain one-inch stuff three or four inches wide and four 
feet long, and nail them together, forming a three-corned frame, 
letting the ends project sufficient to form a corner, as shown in 
the drawing. Next make a couple of smooth, hard stakes, well 
sharpened, and about a foot or sixteen inches in length. When 
you are ready to set your trees place the frame flat upon the 
ground with one corner firmly and fairly against the stake which 
marks the place where the tree 
is to stand. Now in the other 
two corners stick the stakes 
already prepared for the 
purpose. This done pull up 
the stake against which the 
frame was first placed — -the 
one indicating a place for a 
tree — remove the frame, be- 
ing careful in doing so not 
to move the other two stakes, 
which must be left to be 
used while setting the tree. 
After the hole is dug and 
everything ready for setting 
the tree, again place the 
frame against the two standing stakes, let the tree drop into the 
other corner, which will help support it while the dirt is being 
placed about the roots; and this will bring the tree exactly 
where the stake was originally. If the stakes are properly put 
in line so will be the trees.-f- 

These setters are described as they are used when the hole 
is dug and the tree set at the same time. Such is the ordinary 
practice in planting. If one wishes to dig the holes beforehand, 
it is necessary to furnish more stakes, as two have to be left beside 
each hole to mark the position of the setter when the planting 
is done. Besides its use in bringing a tree into line the tree 
setter enables one to judge of the depth of setting as compared 
with the surface of the surrounding ground. It is not easy to 
determine this with the eye if the hole be a large one. Where 
the measuring wire is used to set the stakes, it is sometimes 
stretched across again after the holes are dug, the tags on the 
wire thus indicating the places for the trees of the whole row. 




Triangular Tree Setter. 



*P. W. Butler, of Penryn. 
t W. P. Mundy, Petrolia. 



Selecting Nursery Trees. 137 

The trouble with this practice is the bother of having the wire 
in the way while filling and tramping the earth around the roots. 

SELECTING TREES. 

In the purchase of trees it is well to patronize nurserymen 
in your own district, providing they are honest and intelligent 
men, who keep themselves informed as they should about their 
business. The advice of such a local nurseryman is often of 
great value to the new-comer, for he will know by his experience 
and observation much about the adaptations of fruits and 
varieties thereof to the region. If, for any reason, local nurseries 
do not meet your needs, seek some well-established nursery at a 
distance. It is much safer to deal directly with the grower of 
the trees than to patronize traveling agents. Where, however, 
these agents are the accredited representatives of well-known 
establishments, they may save the planter time and trouble by 
taking his order for him. So-called "tree peddlers," who are 
jobbers in trees and in too many cases send you refuse trees 
which they pick up cheap wherever they can, and label them to 
suit, without respect to truth or honesty, should be resolutely 
avoided, no matter what inducements or blandishments they may 
offer. 

It is desirable, if possible, to visit the nursery yourself, and 
see the stock which is to be furnished you. The trees should 
have a good, healthy look, with clean, bright bark and of size 
enough to indicate a good, free growth. The matter of size is 
not the only point to consider, for size of the top is not so de- 
sirable as well-matured wood and plenty of roots. On the other 
hand, stunted trees are not, as a rule, worth planting, for a 
stunted tree is like a stunted calf, does not make a good after- 
growth. There are cases, however, in which by extra cultivation 
in good soil, fine trees have been grown from "culls" from the 
nursery. The best rule is to select trees of good medium size, 
straight and healthy. In judging size, however, one must take 
California and not Eastern standards, because our nursery stock, 
if well grown, invariably is of much greater size than Eastern. 
Ask to see samples of the roots as well as the tops and do 
not purchase trees unless the roots are healthy looking and free 
from knots or excrescences. Gnarly and knotty roots in the 
young tree are a sure sign of insect pests or of unhealthy 
growth, and planting such trees has occasioned our orchardists 
immense loss. Many have been led into purchasing poor trees 
because they may be had cheap. A tree selected merely because 
it is cheap may prove the most expensive thing a man can put 
in the ground. 



138 First Steps in Transplanting. 

Guarding acainst Insects. — The top of the tree should 
be carefully examined to discover scale insects if there be any. 
For this purpose a hand-magnifier should be used. Such a glass 
should always be in the fruit grower's pocket. One can be 
bought at any optician's for a dollar or two, which will fold into 
its case so as to be carried without scratching. Our nurserymen, 
by forsaking old infested locations and obtaining new ground, 
now sell much cleaner trees than they did a few years ago, but 
still it is well to be always on the watch for pests. If there is 
any doubt, it is best to have the trees dipped root and top. 
This is done by having a tight box or vat large enough to com- 
pletely submerge a tree or bundle of trees, as may be desired. 
The following mixture (recommended by W. G. Klee, State in- 
spector of fruit pests) may be used: — 

Make a soap solution of one-quarter of a pound of the best whale-oil soap to each 
gallon of water, and for every twenty-five gallons of this solution add one pound of 
American concentrated lye or its equivalent; four-fifths of a pound of " Greenbank 
caustic soda, ninety-eight per cent." The mixture should be used warm, 1 10° 
Fahr., and the tree should be left in the solution at least fifteen seconds. 

TAKING TREES FROM THE NURSERY. 

Trees should be carefully taken from the nursery rows so as 
to obtain a good amount of small branching roots. In lifting 
from the home nursery, digging with well-sharpened spades, 
which will sever the long roots cleanly, is perhaps the best 
method. In the large nurseries the newly invented tree diggers 
are generally used. They have two revolving coulters which 
cut through the surface soil each side of the trees, and a sharp, 
curved blade which is drawn through the ground under the trees, 
loosening the soil and severing the long roots cleanly. The tree 
is then easily lifted, and has generally a much better root system 
than by the old style of " ploughing out," which broke off so 
many of the fibrous roots and lacerated the larger ones. 
Whether the tap-root should be retained or not, is not worth 
discussing on theoretical grounds. As a matter of fact and 
practice, the tap-root cuts no figure at all in California orchard 
planting to-day, although the discussion of the question was 
very warm in this State thirty years ago. It is important, how- 
ever, that the planter should have as many small lateral roots as 
he can get. 

The roots, after lifting, should not be permitted to dry. 
Hence, in hauling from the nursery to the farm the trees should be 
well covered with wet straw and old sacks, or, if shipped from 
the nursery to distant points, should be well packed. The best 
way to pack trees is, undoubtedly, to box them in with wet straw, 



Treatment of Trees before Planting. 139 

but it costs less and they usually carry well moderate distances 
if carefully bundled with tules, the roots packed in wet straw, 
and, especially about the roots, the packint^ and covering bound 
down tight with ropes to prevent drying out. 

Attention should be paid to hauling away trees from the 
railway stations as soon as possible after arrival. It is not un- 
common for shipments to lie on the station platforms for days; 
often when a desiccating north wind is blowing. Such treat- 
ment soon takes the life out of the rootlets, and often, no doubt, 
the nurseryman is blamed for failure of trees which have suffered 
some such neglect as this either from transportation companies 
or from the purchasers. 

Heeling In. — On arrival at the farms, trees should be 
"heeled in" as soon as possible; even if it is the intention to 
plant at once, heel them in just the same, for delays arise often 
in the most unexpected manner. To heel in, dig a trench or 
plow a deep furrow, or a double furrow, in light, moist, but well- 
drained soil; put in the trees singly side by side, removing all 
the packing material carefully from the roots, laying the tops 
all one way, and then shovel the earth over the roots until they are 
well covered with loose soil, and be sure that the soil sifts down 
well between the roots. Ordinarily this treatment will hold the 
trees in good condition for a considerable time if need be. If^ 
however, they have become dry before arrival, the bundles 
should be thoroughly drenched with water before heeling in. In 
extreme cases, where the top shows drying by shrinking and 
shriveling of the bark, the trees should be drenched, and then 
they should be covered root and top with earth for two or three 
days, when, if the trouble has not gone too far, the bark will 
recover its smoothness and plumpness. It should be very sel- 
dom, however, that a lot of trees is allowed to get into such 
condition by neglect. In heeling in it will be found a great 
convenience and a safeguard against possible confusion by loss 
of labels, if each variety as taken from the packing is placed by 
itself in the trench. Nurserymen generally attach a label to 
each small bundle, if the trees are of several varieties, and the 
novice is apt to lose all track of his sorts when heeling in the 
trench, unless he heels in each kind by itself, leaving the nursery- 
man's label to mark the whole lot of each kind. 

If the planter has his own ideas of after treatment of his 
trees, or if he is a beginner and desires to adopt the suggestions 
which will be laid down in this book, he should insist that the 
nurseryman shall not trim up nor cut back the trees before pack- 
ing. Have the trees packed just as they are lifted from the 



140 Planting Seasojt in California. 

ground. The work toward the shaping of the tree should be 
done after it is planted in orchard. 

PLANTING THE ORCHARD. 

The best time for planting out deciduous fruit trees in most 
parts of California is immediately after the first winter rain, 
which is sufficiently heavy to moisten the soil to a considerable 
depth. The young tree should be dormant before being moved, 
and if its leaves have fallen it is good evidence of its dormancy. 
Such, however, is the effect of the climate of California, more 
apparent in some years than others, and with some kinds of fruit 
than others, that the young tree retains a small part of its 
activity very late, and in such cases it is not practicable to wait 
for the complete falling of the leaves. Sometimes, for conven- 
ience of work, the trees have to be lifted before this takes place, 
and in such case it is desirable to remove the leaves to lessen 
evaporation. It is probably better to transplant in this condition 
for the sake of early setting in its new position than to wait for 
all the leaves to drop. This statement is not intended to include 
nursery stock, which is kept growing late in the season by late 
irrigation. Such trees are not desirable. 

Time to Plant. — Early planting of common orchard fruits 
is of advantage for several reasons. First, an early planted tree 
gets the full benefit of the season's rainfall whatever it may be, 
and a late planted tree, in a year with short rainfall, is apt to 
suffer during its first season's growth, unless it can be irrigated. 
The two main things to observe are, the dormancy of the tree 
and the proper condition of the soil, and both of these are most 
apt to coincide in most parts of California about the first of 
January. There will, however, be some variation from year to 
year and different parts of the State disagree as to date. Hence, 
the general rule must be based on conditions, that of the tree 
and that of the soil. If the novice cannot judge these for him- 
self, he must get the advice of someone of experience in the 
locality. 

The dormant period of a tree in California, as has been 
stated in another connection, is very short. As many cold- 
climate annual plants become perennial here, so our deciduous 
trees, in comparatively frostless portions of the State, evince a 
tendency to become evergreen. The period of dormancy in the 
root is also shorter than the inactivity of the top. Trees trans- 
planted early are found to have their root wounds calloused over 
and new rootlets considerably advanced before the buds swell. 
Therefore, by early planting the tree begins soon to take hold 



Proper Soil Condition Requisite. 141 

upon the soil, the latter being well settled around them by rains, 
which often follow early planting, and the high winds, which are 
apt to come in the spring in some parts of the State, find the tree 
well anchored and ready to maintain itself 

Again, the proper condition of soil, if not seized at its first 
coming, may not recur until after the great storms of the winter 
are over, say in February or March (in most parts of the 
State), and then often the buds are bursting into bloom and leaf. 
Planting when the soil is water-soaked and cold is very unde- 
sirable, for in such condition it cannot be properly disposed 
about the roots, and trees moved at this period are apt to show 
their dislike of the treatment. If the work has been delayed 
unavoidably, so that early planting cannot be done, it is better 
to keep the trees heeled in until the proper soil condition returns, 
even if it be rather late, for a little extra attention to cultivation 
for retention of moisture will pull through a late planted tree. 

These remarks are of very wide application in this State, 
but there are exceptions. In our high altitudes where the cli- 
mate approaches Eastern conditions in cold and snowfall, practice 
in planting will also approximate Eastern methods. In regions 
of very heavy rainfall and on the upper coast where the rainy 
season and moisture from fogs is prolonged late in the spring, 
late planting is safer and surer than in the warmer, drier parts 
of the State. 

Another consideration, too, is the slope of the land to be 
planted. Our hillside fruit growers in regions of heavy win- 
ter storms sometimes plant slopes, which, if plowed deep in 
the fall, are apt to wash badly during the heavy winter rains. 
On such slopes, it is better to plow late in the winter after the 
heavy storms are over, and plant when the soil has become 
warm and mellow. 

THE OPERATION OF PLANTING. 

Tree planting should be carefully and well done, but it need 
not necessarily be slowly done. With a kind soil deeply worked 
and just in the right condition for planting, trees may be put in 
well and rapidly. Two men work together at a decided ad- 
vantage. Using the straight "tree setter," which has already 
been described, one takes each end, and as soon as the center 
notch incloses the tree stake, the setter stakes are pushed into 
the soil, the "setter" is laid aside, and the two men, taking up 
their shovels or spades, begin first around the outside of the hole, 
throwing all the surface dirt on the same side of the hole and 
leaving the tree stake to be thrown out last because its remain- 
ing serves to center the hole. The lower soil is x\ow thrown to 



142 The Operation of Planting. 

the other side of the hole, and when depth enough is reached, 
the soil at the bottom of the hole is loosened up to the depth of a 
shovel-thrust, without removing it from the hole. A shovelful 
or two of the surface soil is thrown into the center of the hole, be- 
ing allowed to remain higher in tht^ center because this generally 
furnishes a cushion about the natural shape of the under surface 
of the root system of the tree. Now replace the tree setter 
upon its end pegs, let one man hold the tree with its stem in the 
central notch in the setter, and while the other man shovels 
in the surface earth rather slowly at first, the man who holds 
the tree with one hand will spread out the roots, pulverize 
and pack the earth around them, being sure that no cavities 
are left under any of the roots, but that their surfaces every- 
where come in contact with the soil, and that they spread out 
as widely as possible. The earth is being continuously put 
in by the shoveler, and when the roots are covered the planter 
steps in the hole and carefully firms the soil down upon the roots 
by tramping (especially at the cut ends of the roots around the 
outer side of the hole), at the same time judging of the per- 
pendicularity of the tree with his eye. When this is done, both 
men use their shovels and fill up the hole with the earth taken 
from below, being sure to leave the last few inches at the surface 
pulverized, but untramped, unless the soil be very light so that 
tramping will not overpack it. Someone said long ago that 
one should not plant a tree as he does a post, ramming down 
the earth to the very top of the hole. Many trees are doubtless 
ruined by overzeal in this respect. 

The shovel has been mentioned frequently as the tool to be 
used in planting. Where the soil is deeply plowed, well worked, 
and free from stone, the shovel is the most rapid tool. Under 
other conditions the long-handled spade, and in some cases the 
long-handled spading-fork, serves admirably in loosening the 
soil at the bottom of the holes and in breaking up lumps while 
filling in. One man with a shovel or spade, and the other with 
the fork, make a good combination in some soils. 

RANDOM SUGGESTIONS. 

There are a few points not mentioned in this running ac- 
count of planting: — 

The roots of every tree should be examined before planting. 
All large root ends should have a fresh, clean cut with a sharp 
knife or shears. Make a slanting cut with the cut surface on 
the under side of the root. Where a root is mangled or bruised 
it should in most cases be cut back to a sound place. 



Use of Water and Manure. 143 

The tree should be placed if possible with the same side 
toward the sun as was exposed to the sun in the nursery; at all 
events, the wound made by the cutting away of the seedling 
stock above the bud, should be at the north or northeast, in 
order that this weak point may be shaded as much as possible 
from the afternoon sun. 

If the roots of the young tree grow more to one side than 
the other, place the strongest roots toward the prevailing wind. 

The use of water to settle the earth around the roots is 
sometimes desirable in sections where the rainfall is light or un- 
certain. Pour in the water after the hand work in spreading 
the roots and in pressing the soil under and around them has 
been done and the hole partly filled. When the water has 
soaked away, fill the hole with fine earth zvitliout tramping. In 
early planting in parts of the State where the rainfall is abun- 
dant, there is no need of the troublesome process of water settling; 
in late planting, however, it will sometimes be found of ad- 
vantage. Puddling the roots, or dipping them in a thin mud 
and planting with this mud adhering, is governed by much 
the same conditions as water settling; it may insure the 
growth of the tree when otherwise it might be seriously injured 
by drought. With puddled roots especial care should also be 
taken to leave the surface loose to prevent evaporation. In 
making puddle, use loamy soil and never adobe, for in dry time 
the latter will bake around the roots and often kill the tree. 

The Use of Manure. — Never put manure in the hole 
with the tree. Sometimes the injunction is. Never put anything 
but well-rotted manure in the hole. It is better to put none of 
any kind. Manure should be spread upon the ground after 
planting. The rains then leach it out and it may be turned under 
in the spring plowing. There are, however, light soils in the drier 
parts of the State where turning under manure in the spring is 
a disadvantage, as it makes the soil too porous and facilitates 
evaporation. On such soils, extra care should be taken to have 
the manure thoroughly decomposed by composting, as will be de- 
scribed in the chapter on fertilizers, and all applications should 
be made either late in the spring to act as a mulch during the 
summer, or if a mulch is not thought desirable, apply the 
manure in the fall before the first rains, so that it may be turned 
under at the first plowing and have the whole winter for disin- 
tegration. In this dry climate there is often misapprehension, 
especially among new-comers, as to what is well-rotted manure. 
They take the scrapings of the corral, which have been trampled 
and pulverized, but which, having been kept dry, have never 



144 Depili and Speed of Planting. 

rotted. When this is put in the holes with the tree and then 
moistened by rainfall or irrigation, it will burn the tree, the first 
sign of the injury being the drying up of the leaves. It is, on 
the whole, safest and best to put nothing but well-pulverized 
surface soil around the roots of the young tree. 

Depth of Planting. — The depth to which trees should 
be set has always been a matter of discord among plant- 
ers. The safest rule is to get the tree as nearly as possible the 
same depth it stood in the nursery row; that is,soas to have it stand 
that way when the ground has settled. Of course in planting 
in a furrow, which is not a very desirable proceeding, though 
sometimes done, one has to note whether he is planting where 
the next plowing will throw the earth toward or away from the 
tree, and set his trees so as to conform with the normal level. 
In planting in loose soil in the drier parts of the State, it may 
sometimes be desirable to plant rather low. But if irrigation is 
to be practiced, it must be remembered that the water level will 
rise when the soil is saturated, and deep-planted trees are apt to 
suffer. The experience of recent years is decidedly against 
deep planting which used to be advised because of our dry 
climate. Thousands of trees have been ruined by planting too 
deep. 

Speed in Planting. — On good soil, well prepared, trees 
can be put in rapidly and the job still be well done. It is re- 
ported that J. D. Smith, of Livermore, planted sixty-four acres 
of almonds for A. T. Hatch, in March, 1887, using twenty men 
and finishing the sixty-four acres from Friday noon to Wednes- 
day night, placing the stakes, digging the holes, and planting the 
the trees. This would be almost three-quarters of an acre per 
day per man. Mr. Hatch, in planting peaches and apricots on 
his home place in Suisun Valley, has averaged one hundred trees 
per day to the man. On the mellow loam at Lodi, San Joaquin 
County, the average was one hundred and twenty-five trees to 
the man, digging holes two feet square in land which had been 
plowed twelve inches deep. Such work is only possible on good 
soil, well prepared, and by men who work well together. 

Mapping and Labeling. — Where mixed varieties of fruit 
are planted, the orchard should be mapped as soon as the trees 
are set. A good, durable map is made of the glazed muslin, 
such as carpenters and architects use for their drawings. The 
map can easily be drawn to a scale by using a fraction of an 
inch to represent a foot. After the map is made it can be rolled 
on a broom stick or a curtain stick and is easily preserved. 



Labeling and Mulching. 145 

With such a record, the grower need not care what becomes 
of the labels, as he can locate a variety any time by its row and 
tree number. If, however, one desires labels, let them be made 
in this way: Take a piece of common sheet zinc five inches wide. 
Across this, cut pieces three-quarters of an inch wide at one end 
and tapering to a point at the other. Near the wider end write 
plainly with a common lead pencil the name of the variety. 
This will get brighter by exposure to the weather. The small 
end may be coiled around the branch of the tree; it will yield 
as the tree grows and will do no injury. Such labels will last 
for a long time. Labels attached by cord or wire should be 
removed as soon as the trees are set, for they are apt to be for- 
gotten and the tree seriously injured by the cutting in of the 
ligature. Even when labels are used the map is the only surety, 
because any kind of a label is apt to be lost by accident or by 
malice or mischief of intruders. 

Mulching. — Although early-planted treesondeepsoils in re- 
gions of sufficient rainfall, need only good cultivation after plant- 
ing, there are cases in which mulching is desirable. Various 
light materials may be used for a mulch, but nothing is better 
than well-rotted straw, in which fermentation has killed all weed 
seed. Apply it to a distance of two feet around the tree, and to 
a depth of not less than six inches. It is best done as soon as 
the tree is planted, and is to be especially recommended when late 
planting is practiced. In localities where little rain falls, if the 
trees are well mulched early in the winter, irrigation may be 
unnecessary. Trees planted very late in the spring may, by using 
great care and mulching well, make as great a growth as those set 
out in early winter. This should not be an excuse for late plant- 
ing, but we mention it to show that where late planting is neces- 
sary, mulching will help the trees to pull through. It is a far 
easier way of keeping the ground moist than by irrigating. Of 
course this does not mean that a mulch will obviate irrigation 
where systematic irrigation is found necessary, though there are 
indications that irrigation may often be lessened, and in some 
cases obviated, by extra cultivation or mulching, at least until 
the trees come into bearing. 

Guarding against Sunburn. — Newly set trees should 
be protected against sunburn. There is nothing easier and 
neater than to push a " shake "* into the ground so that its 
shadow will shade the stem of the tree form the afternoon sun. 



*Shakes are pieces of wood three feet long, six inches wide, and one-quarter of an inch thick, 
split or sawed from California redwood. 

10 



146 Cutting Back after Planting. 

If set on the southwest side it will do this. Where shakes are 
not at hand or are too expensive, the stem of the tree may be 
bundled with straw or wrapped with paper. Millions of trees 
have perished in this State, and as many more condemned to 
sickly lives, because of sunburn, and borers which seek the in- 
jured bark for entrance. Pruning has much to do with saving 
trees from this evil, as will be shown in the proper connection, 
but in the hotter parts of the State, the first precaution should be 
to shade' the bark of the young tree with some artificial pro- 
tection. 

Cutting Back at Planting. — Whatever idea the grower 
may have as to shaping his tree it must be cut back when 
planted. Lifting from the nursery has removed a considerable 
part of the root system of the young tree and the top must be 
reduced accordingly. The planter who dislikes to sacrifice the 
fine top will sacrifice future growth and vigor by retaining it. 
The tree may struggle through and regain strength, but it will 
for years be smaller than if it had been properly cut back at 
planting. If the moisture supply should be short a tree may 
die the first summer which would have survived if differently 
treated at planting. The manner of cutting back depends some- 
what upon the style of pruning to be followed afterward, as will 
be considered in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PRUNING ORCHARD TREES. 

It is not intended to enter into a discussion of the general 
theories of pruning. The reader desiring to pursue them is re- 
ferred to the abundant Hterature on the subject in Eastern and 
European treatises. The effort to approve or condemn these 
theories by considering them in the Hght of California experience 
and observation might lead to interesting conclusions, but it has 
no place in a work aiming merely at an exposition of what appears 
to be the most satisfactory practice in California fruit growing. It 
will be found that this practice varies somewhat in the different 
regions of California, sometimes in degree, sometimes in kind, 
because of different local conditions, and it might be found that 
nearly all reasonable theories of pruning could be verified in 
California experience. 

It may be remarked, however, that pruning in California is 
at present almost exclusively intended as a s/iaping process. Our 
fruit trees are naturally so prone to bear fruit that pruning to 
produce fruitfulness is seldom thought of, and still more rarely 
practiced, while pruning to reduce bearing wood, and thus de- 
crease the burden of the tree, is quite widely done, to take the 
place, in part, of thinning out the fruit. Pruning to restore vigor 
to the tree, as in cutting back to make a new head, is also rather 
a rare proceeding, probably because our trees are generally too 
young to require it. It may be said, then, that at the present stage 
of California fruit growing, we prune for shape and for the many 
practical advantages which inhere in the form now prevailing in 
California orchards of deciduous fruits. Some of these advan- 
tages are peculiar to our climate; others we share with those 
who advocate a similar form elsewhere. 

Though it may not be possible, perhaps, to substantiate any 
claim to originality in California methods of pruning, it is quite 
certain that some practices are prevalent here to an extent 
which, perhaps, their distant originators never dreamed possible; 
and so well do the practices suit the conditions, that our best 
orchards of the same fruits in adjacent localities are almost 
identical in form and general appearance of the trees, and those 

(147) 



148 Vase Form Popular in California. 

more distant differ chiefly in the extent to which the same prin- 
ciples are applied. And this is not because the trees arc allowed 
to follow their natural inclination, which should secure resem- 
blance, but because their natural bent is resolutely conquered by 
agreement of growers that they know what is good for the tree; 
and this substantial unanimity is the result of the experience of 
the last thirty-five years. Those who advocate preserving the 
natural habit of the tree in pruning, would be shocked to realize 
that in California we often study the habit of the tree that we 
may more successfully repress or change it. Probably, there is 
no part of the world where trees are grown as "natural standards" 
in so unnatural a manner as in California. 

FORM OF TREE BEST SUITED TO CALIFORNIA CONDITIONS. 

Deciduous fruit trees should be grown in California as " low 
standards." They might be described by Mr. Barry's term 
"dwarf standards," which he defines as "similar to standards ex- 
cept that the trunks are low, not over two or three feet in height, 
and the head is retained in a smaller space."* But the term 
" dwarf standards" is so closely connected with the idea of a 
dwarfing stock — although it is true that this is not always implied 
— that it is undesirable. California had thousands of dwarf trees 
in early years, but now we grow trees on free stocks almost ex- 
clusively, as has already been stated. 

The form of tree "which prevails with singular uniformity 
all over the State is the " vase," or "goblet," or " wine-glass " 
form, all these terms signifying a similar general shape. There 
are different ways in which this form is secured and maintained 
in different parts of the State, and with different fruits, which 
will be especially noted in the chapters devoted to these fruits. 
The very elaborate forms of training which are practiced in 
Europe, and to some extent in the Eastern States, and which 
are so faithfully described in the standard works on fruit grow- 
ing, are not to be found at all in California, and will have no 
place in this work. Some of them are not suited to our climate, 
and others, which are devised for the protection of the tree, are 
not necessary here. It is possible that when the State becomes 
more thickly settled, and land is more difficult to obtain, we 
shall see "fruit gardens" again in California, as there were thirty 
years ago, but now if one wants fruit at all on a small area he 
grows a few standard trees, or secures more land and grows an 
"orchard." 



'"Barr>''s Fruit Garden," p. 223. 



Lozv Trees Desirable. 149 

Advantages of Low Heading. — The mainspring of suc- 
cess in California is to grow low trees. Low is a term admitting 
of degrees, it is true, and may imply a trunk of six inches up to 
one of two feet, in the clear. There are old trees with much 
higher stems, and in some parts of the State they are safe, but 
no experienced fruit planter now heads his trees high. 

Low heading has for us all the advantages for which this 
practice is approved in other parts of the world, viz., accessibil- 
ity of fruit and ease of pruning, symmetry and solidity, and 
consequent decrease of danger from high winds, greater facility 
of approach to the trunk with the horse in cultivation. This 
last point has been contested and fought out on our own soil, 
for experience has demonstrated that properly trained trees 
with low heads and obliquely rising branches, are handier for 
the cultivator than high-headed trees with drooping horizontal 
branches. But these general advantages of lovy-trained trees 
are not the chief ones secured in California by low heading. 
Hundreds of thousands of trees have been destroyed by the 
exposure of a long, bare trunk to the rays of the afternoon sun. 
The sun-burned sides have given the conditions desired by 
borers, and destruction has quickly followed. Sometimes young 
trees have not survived their first season in the orchard, because 
of burned bark; or this, with the added injury by the borers. 
It is also found by California experience that growth is more 
vigorous in the branches when they emerge near the ground. 
Even where actual burning may not occur the travel of the sap 
through the longer distance of trunk is undesirable. It is be- 
lieved, also, that benefit results from shading of the ground at 
the base of the trees, by reducing evaporation, and by main- 
taining a temperature of soil better suited to vigorous root- 
growth. 

Low Heading Influenced by Location. — But whatever 
may be the reasons, the fact is indisputable, the higher the 
prevailing summer temperature, and the greater the aridity, the 
lower should the trees be headed. Trees which will do well in 
the central and upper coast region and adjacent to the bay of 
San Francisco, with twenty-four to thirty-six inches of clear 
trunk would dwindle and probably perish in the heated valleys 
in all parts of the State. In such situations, both north and 
south, the best practice is to head the tree fifteen, twelve, and 
some even hold as low as six inches from the ground. There 
will always be some difference in opinion as to detail, but the 
necessity of making the trunk short enough to be effectually 
shaded by the foliage is admitted by all growers. Thus it ap- 



ISO 



The French Vase Form. 



pears that we are making extremes meet in our tree training, 
and are growing standards almost as bushes. Of course, in so 
doing there has to be attention given to feathering down the 
branches well with leaves or pinched-off shoots, or securing 
spread of the top, so that the main branches do not become 
exposed and invite the fate from which it is designed to rescue 
the trunk. 

WHENCE CAME OUR PREVAILING FORM OF TREE? 

As the vase form of tree has become so prevalent in Cali- 
fornia, and shows such adaptation to our conditions, it may be 
worth while to refer briefly to its origin and development. It 
is a product of French ingenuity in the training of dwarf trees, 
and has undergone considerable modification in California, 
losing much of the accuracy of its form and gaining vastly in 
speed of work, without sacrificing any practical value which in- 
heres in the design. 

Mr. Barry reproduces the substance of a method of securing 
the vase form with the peach as laid down by M. Louis Gaudry, 
of Paris, in a small work written by him, and from the same 
source, also, the engraving given herewith.* M. Gaudry starts 

his tree by heading back to two feet 
or higher, then allowing three buds to 
start at the top, rubbing off all which 
start below. The branches from these 
three buds he draws outward, fasten- 
ing them by cords driven in the 
ground ; all side shoots on these 
branches being pinched off. The next 
year these branches are released and 
cut back to six or eight inches from 
the base, to a leaf bud on the outside 
of the branch which has a bud below 
it either on the right or left side. The 
front bud continues the main branch, 
and the side bud makes a secondary 
branch. All other shoots save these 
two are pinched off at three or four 
leaves. Hoops are now placed in the 
interior, to which the branches are 
bound to keep them in place. The 
next year the process is repeated, save that the secondary branch 
is brought out on the side opposite to that of the secondary 




French Style of Vase 
(Barry). 



•"Barry's Fruit Garden," edition of 1S53, p. 234. In later editions this engraving is used differ- 
ently, and as far as I can judge from the description, incorrectly. 



Wine Glass Form. 



151 



branch of the previous year. The fruit is grown upon shoots 
which grow on both sides of the primary and secondary 
branches. All shoots which start to grow either inward toward 
the center or outward, are pinched back, so that the tree really 
becomes vase-shaped, with a comparatively thin wall of growth, 
the center quite open and the exterior with a true outline. This 
process, of course, will produce a very symmetrical form. In- 
stead of having a central trunk or leader, it has a series of 
leaders and secondary branches regularly disposed around the 
circumference of the vase, as the engraving shows. 

A modification of the foregoing is the " wine-gla.ss " form, 
which was described by Capt. Wm. K. Austin, of Dorchester, 
Mass., in Hovey's Maga::ine of Horticulture, in February, 1865.* 
He used the method which he describes for training dwarf pear 
trees. He started with a two-year-old tree, headed it back, 
taking out the central stem, and usually obtained a small growth 
the first season. This is cut back, and from the vigorous growth 
of the second season the form of the tree is outlined. He 

took ten or twelve leaders, the 
lowest eighteen inches from the 
ground, and a clear stem below 
that. Nothing but these leaders 
are allowed to grow, all side shoots 
and spray being kept down by 
nipping off with light shears, 
leaving always a few leaves at the 
base of the twig. These leaders 
grow fast and are topped in mid- 
summer to check and concentrate 
the energies of the tree and stock 
it up. This process is repeated 
each year, and all pruning is on 
small shoots and no large limbs to 
remove. Captain Austin did not 
use any artificial appliances for 
locating his branches, but allowed 
them to spread after their natural habit. Captain Austin's plan 
does away with the central trunk or leader and substitutes about 
a dozen side leaders arranged as nearly as may be around the 
circumference of his wine glass, as the accompanying engraving 
shows. 

The vase form is mentioned by many French writers. It is, 
says Du Breuil, to be preferred in situations liable to high winds. 




Austin's Wine Glass (Barry). 



■"Rarrj-'s Fruit Garden," edition 1S72, p. 259. 



152 Old Forms Modified in California. 

He states that it may be secured by taking up five branches 
vertically, or they may be made to cross each other alternately 
left and right, following an angle of 30'^. M. Du Breuil prefers 
this method. The leaders are advanced spirally and held in 
place by lashing to hoops. This does not, of course, have as 
great resemblance to our California style as the growth with 
vertical leaders as described by M. Gaudry, as has already been 
cited, or as described by Robert Thompson in his report on the 
fruit and kitchen gardens near Paris, to the journal of the Horti- 
cultural Society of London, for 1847. Writing of the gardens 
of the Luxembourg, he says: — 

All the quarters containing fruit trees are surrounded with borders planted with 
cherry, plum, and apricot trees as standards, and some, with excellent effect, are 
trained as dwarfs in form of a vase or goblet. . . . The head is formed hollow, 
in shape like a goblet, the shoots being annually tied to hoops of wood adapted to 
the circumference required to give the desired form. Two hoops are sufficient, the 
two-year-old arm being tied to one and the equidistant regulation of the one-year-old 
shoots is effected upon the other. As the vase or goblet widens, of course hoops 
of greater circuit must be prepared. . . . Shoots are apt to spring up in the 
center of the goblet, but they must be pinched in summer. The form is very orna- 
mental, it can be produced at little expense, and the trees were well furnished with 
fruit buds. 

Mr. Barry, in his "Fruit Garden," describes the common 
method for training "dwarf standards" in vase form. He starts 
with a low head and three or four branches. The first year, all 
superfluous productions are rubbed off, and a balance maintained 
among the shoots by pinching. The second year, the shoots of 
the previous season are shortened about one-half, as a gen- 
eral thing, the cut being made at a good, plump bud capable of 
producing a vigorous shoot, and this is selected to prolong the 
branch. If one or two secondary branches are needed to fill 
the space, those next the leader, if properly situated, are chosen, 
and all below them are pinched when about two or three inches 
long, to check the growth of wood where it is not needed, and 
to convert them into fruit branches or spurs. The third year, 
the shoots of the previous year are cut back as before, say to 
four, five, or six eyes, according to their strength. One shoot is 
chosen to continue the prolongation of the branch, and the oth- 
ers are pinched in season to convert them into fruit spurs. Thus 
the tree is conducted from year to year until it has attained the 
full size required. 

HOW THESE FORMS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED IN CALIFORNIA. 

These condensed statements of rather old methods of at- 
taining the vase form with dwarf trees are given to show whence, 
perhaps, sprang the method now so generally adopted by our 



TJie Calif ortiia l^ase Form. 



153 



growers of deciduous fruits. It will be in order to note 
some of the ways in which we adhere to, and some in which we 
have departed from, these models: — 

First — Our growers very generally accept the idea of dis- 
pensing with the central trunk and follow it faithfully. There 
are, however, some in this State who advocate maintaining a 
central leader to a certain height, but not at all as an apex of a 
pyramid. It is doubtful whether such a tree could be made 
satisfactory, except in upper coast regions not liable to sunburn. 
For this reason the whole pyramidal design, which is elaborated 
so carefully elsewhere, is not seen in this State. 

Second — We go farther than our prototypes, because as far 
as possible we banish the side leaders as well as the central 
leader. At each cutting we aim to get two branches from one, 
and as nearly as possible of equal vigor, so the California tree 
does not, except, of course, in occasional instances, show the 
outline of a leader from the bottom to the top, but there is a 
succession of branchings, turned this way or that by the skillful 
pruner, occupying available air space, distributing the weight so 

it comes more nearly over 
the center of gravity and at 
the same time knitting the 
fibers of the branch so that 
the weight of the fruit is 
well sustained. This style 
is shown in the accompany- 
ing engraving. 

Third — It would not be 
possible, with some kinds of 
fruits at least, for long side 
leaders to carry the weight 
of fruit which comes upon 
California trees, without 
props or lashings from 
leader to leader across the 
center — which, in fact, some 
growers who have trained 
their trees in that way have 
to adopt. The alternate is 
to grow these leaders so long 
that they can bend over in a curve and rest their outer ends on 
the ground — and this too is advocated as a good system by 
at least one grower in this State, but it would be fatal in some 
districts, as both tree and fruit would be destroyed by 
sunburn. 




California Vase Form: Six-Year-Old 
Pi.uM Tree. 



154 



Advantages of California Style. 



Fo7irth — The general plan is, however, as stated, arranging- 
the shoots to occupy the space and to distribute the weight;' or, 
as one has expressed it, "growing three or four trees from one 
root." This idea is, however, not allowed to go so far as to 
wholly close the interior of the tree, but to retain such degree 
of open interior as is found desirable. When the tree is laden 
with fruit the weight naturally expands the top quite enough to 
admit the sunlight without exposing either the fruit or the 
branches to danger of burning. Thus it appears that instead of 
the true vase or wine glass, with hollow interior and thin walls, 
we have the general exterior outline of this model, but give a 
good part of the central area of the figure to bearing shoots, and 
thus secure a large bearing surface with well-strengthened sup- 
ports. It is not difficult to find four-year-old peach trees trained 
in this manner carrying, without props, one hundred and sev- 
enty-five pounds of large fruit — the size secured by most res- 
olute thinning early in the season. 

Fiftli — The growing of a considerable number of leaders, all 
starting from near the point where the tree was headed at planting, 
something as the ribs of an inverted umbrella, does not give a 
strong tree. The leaders crowd each other at the point of 
emergence from the stem, and, when laden with fruit, sway out- 
ward and break off at this point. A vastly stronger tree is se- 
cured by starting but three or four 
. •■) branches from the low trunk and letting 
■/ them emerge from different sides of 
the stem, and at different levels. Thus 
each main attachment to the stem has 
abundant room, and the wood enlarges 
symmetrically and solidly. The expan- 
sion of the top is attained by the branch- 
ing which follows the cutting back of 
succeeding years. Starting too many 
leaders from nearly the same level on 
the stem has been the occasion of great 
losses of overladen trees, and quite a 
considerable recourse to strengthening 
up weak trees by running bolts through 
from side to side at the points where ex- 
perience shows breakage is likely to occur. 
This can be obviated in most cases by 
better pruning, which tends to distribute the strain more evenly 
over the stem. 



^ >^'i;f 




Use of Bolt to Prevent 
Breakage (Lelong). 



Cutting Back and First Pruning. 



155 



HOV; TO SECURE THE PREVAILING FORM. 

For the benefit of the inexperienced reader, it will be well 
to illustrate the steps by which the form of tree found so gen- 
erally desirable is to be attained. 

Cutting Back at Planting. — First cut back the tree 
just after planting, as shown in the engraving, deciding first at 
what height you wish your trees to form heads, and cut them 
all back as uniformly as possible, always observing that there is 
a bud just below the point of cutting. To preserve these buds 
the trees should be handled carefully while removing from the 
nursery and during planting. 

If the tree has already grown laterals where the head is de- 
sired, three or four of these properly placed on the stem may be 
selected to form the main branches, shortened in to the sound 
bud nearest the stem, and other laterals, not desired to form the 
head, removed. If the laterals on the young tree start out above 
where the head is desired, as is generally the 
case, remove the whole top, as shown in the en- 
graving. If there are no buds on the stem at 
the place where the head is desired, the choice 
must be made between heading the tree higher 
up, where the buds are, or cut- 
ting back without regard to 
buds, trusting to the develop- 
ment of latent buds at the right 
place, or to the growth of a 
shoot from below which can be 
cut back to form a head the 
following year. It is for this 
reason, among others, that 
planters prefer a yearling tree 
which has not branched, but has good buds all 
along the stem. 

After cutting back at planting, the shoots 
desired to form the head are allowed to make 
their full growth without interference. All 
shoots not desired for branches are pinched off 
after growing out two or three inches, leaving a 
bunch of leaves to shade the trunk and contrib- 
ute to its stouter growth. Tree after First 
^ Winter Priininc. 

First Pruning. — In the winter following 
planting, the previous season's growth is cut back to about ten 
or twelve inches from their junction with the stem. Some pre- 
fer to cut shorter, but this is apt to huddle the branches too close 




Cutting Back at 
Planting (Barry). 




156 



Second Winter Pruning. 



together when they get old and stout. Growers, however, do not 
agree on the exact length which these future main branches 
should be left at the first pruning. The engraving on the pre- 
ceding page shows a tree with four main branches after its first 
pruning ; in this case the branches are left rather long. 

If, during the first summer's growth, all shoots except the 
number desired to form the head have been pinched back, the 
first winter pruning consists only in cutting back the main 
branches. If laterals have grown on the parts of these branches 
which are to be left on the tree, they should be cut back to a 
bud or two. This is better than removing them entirely, for the 
next summer they will be pinched, after throwing out a (qw 
leaves to shade and thicken the branches, just as the short 

growths left the previous summer 

serve the main stem. 

Second Pruning. — During the 
second summer it is usual to allow 
two main branches to grow from 
each of the main branches left at the 
previous winter pruning, and to pinch 
off all others as described. These 
main branches are allowed to run out 





Cherry Marked for Second 
Winter Pruning. 



Pear Tree after Sec- 
ond Winter Pruning. 



their full growth, except where excessive growth is made, and 
then it is repressed by summer pruning. This is done with the 



Distributing Brandies on the Stem. 



157 



apricot in the warmer parts of the State, as will be considered 
at length in the chapter on that fruit. Usually, however, the 
main branches are untouched during the second summer's growth. 
The engraving shows a young cherry tree in the writer's 
garden at Berkeley, which was cut back rather short at the 
first pruning, and is marked for cutting at the second. In this 
case four main stems were left, but from two of them only one 
branch each was allowed to grow. Usually a four-branch head 
is given eight branches the following year, but six are enough. 
If this tree had made other laterals the}' would have been pinched 
in summer or shortened in winter as desired. 

Another engraving shows a pear tree (with longer branches 
from the first pruning) after it has received its second winter 
pruning. The engraving is from a photograph taken in the 
orchard of W. W. Smith, of Vacaville. 

A little different style of tree is shown in the engraving of 
a young apple in the garden of the writer, marked for its second 

winter pruning. The four 
branches forming its head 
emerge at a considerable dis- 
tance from each other on the 
stem, and they are not quite 
at opposite points, as the en- 
graving indicates. This form 
will give a stronger tree than 
where the branches all emerge 
from the top of the short 
stem, as is the case in some 
of the other trees shown. To 
arrange to have branches 
emerge at different points, 
pinching must usually be done, 
for it is natural for the buds 
near together at the top to 
push out strongly, and as the 
growth advances they assume 
about the same level. The 
markings on the tree may be 
suggestive as to the way to 
reduce an excessive number 
of laterals early in the life of the tree. 

Third Pruning. — When the tree reaches its third winter 
pruning its form is well outlined, and early bearing trees like 
the peach and apricot will give the grower quite a respectable 
crop. To bear this crop, greater care should be taken at the 




Apple Tree Marked for Second 
Winter Pruning. 



158 



Third Winter Pruning. 



third winter pruning to leave the small laterals low down on the 
main branches, for on them, clustered close in the head of the 
tree, most of the first crop will be found. Though some trees 

do bear earlier than the third summer, 
the fruit is not usually considered un- 
til the third summer. The engraving 
is from a pear tree in the orchard of 
W. W. Smith, the photograph being 
taken just after its third winter pruning. 
It is a very good representative of the 
vase form of a tree as grown in Cali- 
fornia. It has four main branches, 
each issuing from a different point on 
the stem, each permitted to carry two 
main branches, which are not arranged 
around the circumference, but some of 
them tending toward the center. At 
the third pruning more than the num- 
ber of shoots have been left than re- 
quired by the rule, for, starting with 
four main branches, there are usually 
sixteen left at the third pruning. 

To show the relation between the 
prevailing California method and that 
described by Mr. 
Barry for the train- 
ing of standards, it 
is interesting to in- 
troduce an illustration.* It shows a tree 
headed on three main branches, with two from 
each left at the next pruning. The points a 
and b represent the first and second prunings, 
although Mr. Barry prescribes that the growth 
shall be uniformly maintained between these 
six, the engraving suggests rather the forma- 
tion of leaders and secondary branches, and 
does not show uniformity of strength in the 
branches, as does the California tree just de- 
scribed. The trunk is described as about four 
feet high, which is at least twice the height 
desired in this State. 




Pear Tree after Third 
Pruning, 



X-h 




Standard Tree 
Ready for Third 
Pruning (Barry). 



Subsequent Pruning.— The method of proceeding thus 
illustrated is carried beyond the third pruning by some growers; 



"Barry's Fruit Garden, " p. 222, 



Descriptions of Local Practice. 1 59 

by others a different method is followed with some fruits, which 
will be specified in the chapters on the different fruits. Mr. 
Smith, of Vacaville, proceeds regularly year after year, and the 
engraving on page 153 is from a Silver prune tree in his orchard 
after the fourth pruning, or, if the cutting back at planting is 
called the first pruning, this tree has been pruned five times, and 
is six years old. 

There has not been any effort made to definitely decide the 
lengths of growth to be left at each pruning, because practice 
varies in this respect, and the reader may choose his adviser from 
those whose practice will be next described. 

LOCAL DETAILS BY PROMINENT GROWERS. 

Having thus attempted to give intimation of the origin of 
our prevailing style of pruning, the respects in which the method 
has been modified in California practice, and prescribed the 
steps for its attainment, it will be well to show the wide applica- 
tion of the method to our conditions by a few descriptions of the 
procedure of fruit growers in widely separated parts of the State, 
the accounts being mainly in their own language. After citing 
these teachings of experience, a few general deductions there- 
from will be indulged in. 

General N. P. Chipman, of Tehama County, advises as fol- 
lows: — 

Almost without an exception in this hot climate, all deciduous trees, such as ap- 
ricots, peaches, prunes, etc., should be cut down within twelve inches of the ground 
after they are planted. I would prefer a head within six inches of the ground. 
Among my early plantings can show trees with a clean trunk of four or five feet, 
and I shall keep a few as monuments of my ignorance: the balance I shall cut down 
and grub out. Leave three or four buds at the top of your tree, and don't worry if 
the first year some small branches come out all along the trunk; they will help to 
shade your tree and you may have to use some of them in balancing your head next 
spring. As a rule, your tree will need no knife the first summer, and while shading 
the trunk with a lx)ard is wise, still by cutting low, the foliage will amply shade the 
tree. 

The late Dr. S. R. Chandler, of Sutter County, at a meet- 
ing of the State Horticultural Society, in February, 1885, said 
that he cuts the young tree down to about six inches from the 
ground, instead of fifteen to twenty inches as advised by others. 
Instead of checking the growth of any of the sJioots during the 
summer, he lets them all grow, and considers that the trunk is 
thickened and strengthened by the action of all the leaves which 
are allowed to develop. After the leaves are off, he prunes out 
the shoots which he does not need. Since his death, the trees 
begun in this way have been carried along on the same plan by 
his successor, Mr. R. C. Kells, and have been pronounced favor- 



i6o Similar Methods, NortJi and South. 

ably upon by other growers who have visited the orchard, near 
Yuba City, 

W. W. Smith, of Vacaville, Solano County, is recognized 
as one of our most successful trainers of fruit trees, and his ad- 
dresses on the subject before our State Horticultural Society 
have done much to educate younger planters. The following is 
an outline of Mr. Smith's method: — 

The top of the tree should be cut off after planting out (not before) clown to 
fifteen inches above the ground. Three buds at the top permit to grow; three limbs 
are better than four or tive. When the twigs below start out a little way pinch off 
the terminal bud. Twigs thus pinched off put out a few leaves and shade the trunk. 
In the pruning season the following winter, cut off the three branches, so as to leave 
them about twelve inches long from the trunk, and allow each of these three to send 
out two shoots, pinching off all others soon after they start out as twigs. At the 
next winter's pruning, or the third year of the tree from the bud, cut off these six 
branches to eighteen inches in length. Each of these six are allowed to put out two 
shoots, and the other buds are pinched. Then, the next year, the tree has twelve 
main branches, and has assumed a goblet shape, and is symmetrical, if care has been 
taken to pinch all twigs except those mentioned as left to grow. The pinching of 
twigs may be done during the growing season, and it will be found that this summer 
pruning will save much cutting of wood at the regular winter pruning. By pinching 
an undesirable bud the moment its nature is detected, the sap which it would use in 
several months' growth would be saved . 

Charles R. Paine, of Lugonia, San Bernardino County, 
gives the following as his practice: — 

I train the stem to a single cane and cut them all off uniformly, knee high, i. e., 
somewhat less than two feet from the ground. When the young growth is a few 
inches long I rub off every shoot from the stem, except from three to five at the top, 
preferably three. I repeat -this several times during the season of growth, and it is 
a very rapid operation. The following spring I cut back these three shoots to a stub 
three to six inches long, for the double object of making these limbs stocky, to bear 
their future burdens of fruit, and to enable me to control the shape of the tree more 
perfectly. Shortly a great quantity of youug growth will cluster about each of these 
stubs, which, by a few minutes' work with your unaided fingers, you can thin out to 
a few shoots tending obliquely upward from inside buds mostly. These will make a 
lusty growth which you must shorten in the next season. Indeed, every season you 
should shorten in at least one-half of the fruit-bearing growth of the preceding sea- 
son, as well as thin out branches that impair the symmetry of the tree, and overbur- 
den it with fruit, and likewise those of the branchlets that may start to grow on the 
outside of the three main branches and their prongs. In the third year the tree has 
attained the shape it is ever after to keep, — a short trunk, about two feet high, having 
no central stem beyond, and from its summit, divergent branches, strong to support 
their weight of fruit and ever keeping out of your way, and yet ready to yield their 
bounty to your outstretched hand if you have kept the tops properly shortened each 
season. This kind of an open top, too, is best adapted to let in all those influences 
of the sun needed to mature the fruit. These desirable results are, it seems to me, 
secured by a method of pruning so simple and so easily followed from year to year 
that your boy or your Chinaman can do it. 

J. W. Sallee, of Pomona, Los Angeles County, read an ad- 
mirable essay before the meeting of the County Pomological 
Society, in April, 1886, in the course of which he said: — 

The best method to secure a low head is to cut the trunk off within sixteen 
nches of the ground. Cut all branches off — not smooth with the trunk, but leaving 



Some Groivers Prefer Central Stem. l6i 

a very short stub — just the bulge or base of the branch. This is to secure the more 
healthy buds which put forth near ihe base of the old branch. You will be much 
more certain to secure good, healthy branches in this way than you will to cut 
smoothly. Allow five or six of these healthiest branches to grow, seeing that the 
head is properly balanced. Do not grow them too near together at the top of the 
trunk, but distance them within ten inches of the top. Remove all other branches 
within this distance with your hands while they are fjuite young. All branches below 
the head should be allowed to grow about six inches long, then pinch out the bud, 
allowing the foliage to remain. This protects the trunk until the head is large enough 
to do this, when these small branches must be cvU off. You should allow the four, 
five, or six branches which form the top, to grow uninterruptedly the first season. The 
following winter cut these l^ranches off within ten or twelve inches of the trunk, being 
careful to cut just above a series of healthy buds. If the tree is an upright grower 
cut to an outside bud, but if a spreading grower cut to an inside bud. At all times 
have an eye to the protection of the tree from southwest winds and sun. The second 
season allow two or three branches to grow from each one of the parent branches. 
You thus have a handsome, symmetrical tree, and your after pruning is suggested by 
the foregoing. When branches begin to decline they should be removed, and after 
the tree begins to bear, the pruning should be much more sparingly done, if fruit is 
the object. 

LOW HEADING WITH CENTRAL STEM. 

It will be noted that in all these cases there is no provision 
for a central stem. The departure from this practice, which 
prevails to some extent, and generally in the cooler parts of the 
State, proceeds upon low training, but provides for a leader. 
For example, Mr. A. Loomis, President of the Santa Cruz 
Mountains Fruit Growers' Club, gives the following as his 
method of training: — 

I would start a tree with three or four branches, one and a half to two feet from 
the ground, as a framework from which to form the head, leaving a center shoot, if 
possible. These I would cut back to about one foot, leaving the terminal bud on the 
upper side of the side branches to continue growth in an upward direction. These will, 
during the growing season, make usually two to four lateral branches, which I would 
again cut back, thinning out where necessary, always endeavoring to preserve a round, 
upriglit, open head. By practicing this system until the tree arrives at a full bearing 
condition, very little pruning will thereafter be needed, except to cut out sprouts from 
the center of the tree, and occasionally to thin nut the top branches, if inclined to 
grow too thickly, or cutting back shoots which are- inclined to grow too long and de- 
stroy tlie symmetry of the head. I would use this system with apples, pears, and 
cherries espciially. With trees thus treated, it will seldom be found necessary to re- 
move large limbs, which I would avoid as far as possible, except in case of a tree 
that, from some cause, has become diseased or enfeebled in growth, when it would 
be well to cut back severely the old wood, reducing the head to give it a chance to 
recuperate and send out a new growth of healthy wood. 

The following method is advocated by a Humboldt County 
grower: — 

Have young trees to begin with. Instead of cutting the top or center out, as is 
often done, always let it grow as straight as possible. The top or center is the tree, 
and should never be cut off unless it grows too fast; then it should be cut back to a 
suitoble length, always leaving a bud in the wind side to continue its growth, as 
needed. Next are the fruiting branches, which should come out near the ground or as 
high or low as you wish. Next you must thin out the branches if too many, and 
shorten them by cutting back if too long. By following this plan every year you can 

I I 



1 62 Genera! Deductions. 

have as fine-shaped trees as anyone can desire, and they will not break or split when 
loaded with fruit, so easy as a tree without a center. 

Isaac Collins, of Hayvvards, gives the following, as prevail- 
ing, to some extent at least, in his important region: — 

The young tree, on being planted, is cut back to within three feet of the ground. 
When the buds attain a growth of two or three inches a selection is made of the best 
four buds, the first as close to the top as possible, the second four inches below, the 
third four inches below on the reverse side, and the fourth the same distance below, 
also on the side opposite to the previous one. Below this there is a stem of two feet 
to the ground without branches. On the two feet of stem the leaves from buds are 
permitted to grow to shade the trunk, and shoots that may attempt to grow thereon 
are pinched off. The four selected shoots are allowed to grow without meddling the 
full season's growth. At the winter's pruning of the four shoots that are to form the 
head of the tree, the upper one is cut back to four inches, the second about the 
same, the third to five inches, and the fourth from six to eight inches. On these cut- 
back shoots, when the growth from their buds is about two inches long, a selection of 
two of the most suitable is made and the others are rubbed off on all except the up- 
permost shoot, from which the terminal Itud only is allowed to grow. The second 
year the tree will have seven leading boughs to form its head, one of which will 
make a strong main stem. The leading boughs are cut close to that stem that 
they may have the greater weight-bearing power. The third year they can all be cut 
back to the length that is considered proper from the general conditions of the case. 

GENERAL EFFECTS OF PRUNING IN CALIFORNIA. 

Referring to the older treatises for the philosophy of prun- 
ing as related to the vegetative process of the tree, etc., the fol- 
lowing considerations, based upon California observation and 
experience, are taken from the essay of J. W. Sallee, of Pomona, 
to which allusion has been made: — 

First — Close pruning, when the tree is dormant, induces tree growth. Hence, 
if your tree is feeble, or has not grown as well as you wished, trim it closely in the 
winter season, always cutting just above healthy buds. 

Second — A severe shock to the tree — either top or root — while the sap is flowing 
freely, causes the tree to throw out fruit spurs and buds for the next season. This is 
from the fact that the law of nature is reproduction and the shock causes the tree to 
act thus upon the principle that this will be its last chance for reproduction. Pruning 
while the tree is in blossom causes that crop of fruit to set, upon the same principle. 
And likewise deep plowing — which is a system of root pruning — has the same effect. 
I do caution fruit raisers upon this point, however, for it is this motto that has caused 
many of the young trees in this country to bear far beyond their capacity, thereby 
injuring the young tree. 

77//n/~ When tree growth is desired prune while the tree is dormant, and when 
fruit is desired prune sparingly and when the sap is flowing. 

Fourth — For plums, prunes, and apricots, leave all the small spurs growing near 
the trunk on young trees as well as old, for these are they which bear the fruit. 
" Head in " well from the outside, which tends to fully develop these spurs, and also 
strengthens the tree, and causes the fruit to bear near the trunk. 

Fifth — Apples, peaches, and pears are inclined to bear nearer the tips, and young 
trees should be well headed in in the winter season, both to give the tree symmetry 
and strength, and also to induce a more vigorous wood growth and prevent a prema- 
ture bearing of fruit, which is too much the case in this climate. 

Sixth — The principle is dift'erent in citrus trees. The fruit and foliage are ffoth 
borne at the extremities of the branches, hence never head in a citrus tree, but as the 
tree develops, cut out from the inside all dead liranches and those which nature indi- 
cates past usefulness, at no time making an objectionable winclpw or opening through 



Feiv Non-P rimers in California. 163 

the umbrella-like foliage. After a small branch has borne fruit, there is another 
branch putting forth below this one which overreaches it, and which will bear fruit 
in the future. Nature thus prunes the old branches, but should l)e aided by the 
husbandman's knife. 

Seventh — At all times remove all dead branches and branches that interfere. 
This should be done by making the cut smooth, which will more readily heal. 

Eiglilh — The best time for pruning is immediately after the tree has shed its 
leaves in winter, which is the last of December or in January. This is with decid- 
uous trees. For citrus trees any time is good while the tree is dormant. 

Ninth — The best tools for pruning are a saw, working on a swivel and with a 
spring back similar to a butcher's saw, only set to cut as you pull towards you, and a 
pair of first-class nine-inch pruning shears; also a light chisel and mallet for smooth- 
ing rough cuts. 

CONFLICT OF OPINION ON PRUNING. 

Ever since the pomological experience of our ancestors in 
the Garden of Eden, perhaps, there has been a conflict of opinion 
about the necessity of pruning. CaHfornia has fewer " non- 
pruners " than other fruit regions, however, because a fruit tree 
left to itself in this State soon becomes a wreck. Its exuberance 
in its early years, if it is in a good situation, tends to a long, 
straggling growth, which is unable to carry the weight of fruit 
which following years may bring upon it. Bending every way 
under this burden, it is torn to pieces by the wind, or else by 
very weight of fruit alone becomes, with its prostrate branches, 
a perfect picture of beauty in despair. Even if the grower pro- 
vides himself with cords of props and posts to support the 
limbs, the sight may please the artist as a vision of profusion, 
but it does not delight the grower who knows trees may be built 
up in the strength to sustain all the really first-class fruit they 
should ripen. In less favorable countries, where wood growth is 
less and fruitage more scanty, it is natural that there should be 
more non-pruners than in California. 

And yet we may be said to be drifting into rather more 
moderate ideas of pruning than have prevailed, but these relate 
rather to treatment of the tree after it has been given its proper 
shape; that is, to treatment after the full bearing period com- 
mences. There are some who advocate recourse to bending, 
staking, and tying branches during the formative process, rather 
than cutting back and growing from a bud a new branch where 
one is needed, and there is, perhaps, room for all the ingenuity 
and painstaking effort which advocates of such methods desire 
to put forth, but such practices are rather for the grower who 
has plenty of time and comparatively few trees, and not for the 
commercial orchardist who has little time and many acres o 
trees. The whole process of fruit growing is to a certain extent 
an artificial one, as is the development of breed characteristics 
in animals, or keeping them under devised conditions for their 



l64 SuJnmer Pruning and Pinching. 

products, and though the nature and behavior of the tree should 
be carefully studied, it is really what the fruit tree borrows from 
man, and not from the forest, which gives it its present value 
and characteristics. 

SUMMER PRUNING. 

Summer pruning to induce bearing is, as has been previ- 
ously intimated, but little employed in this State, for the con- 
stant tendency of our trees is to bear early and to overbear, 
which, on theoretical grounds at least, is accepted as indicating 
short life to the tree. Summer pruning to check the too exu- 
berant wood growth of some kinds of trees is employed to some 
extent, chiefly in the warmer parts of the State, where the vege- 
tative process in some trees seems fairly to run riot, and unless 
checked is apt to ruin the tree by breaking to pieces when the 
wind and weight of fruit test its strength. The methods of 
summer pruning employed in different parts of the State for 
different fruits will be considered in connection with the special 
chapters on these fruits. 

Summer pruning to preserve form is another matter, and 
relates in the main to pinching in, to check undesirable exten- 
sion and to direct the sap toward shoots in which growth is de- 
sired. This practice is approved by most of our orchardists, and 
is employed by them to a greater or less extent. More people 
believe in than practice it, however, because the summer months, 
with their long succession of fruits to be gathered and shipped 
or dried, and the additional consideration that there is always a 
scarcity of labor at this time, give the orchardist so much work 
to do that he is apt to confine his "pinching" to a little that he 
may do now and then when he has a few moments' leisure, than 
to do the work thoroughly and systematically. The result is 
that the regular winter pruning is the main operation for tree 
shaping in this State. 

There is such a great difference in opinion about summer 
pruning that it will be very difficult to make any assertions 
about it which will not be disputed. Much of this difference 
comes, of course, from different conditions prevailing in different 
trees and in different parts of the State, and some of these will 
be met, as already promised, in following chapters. Leaving 
these wholly out of consideration at this time, it is safe to advise 
those who wish to secure symmetry or any particular form in 
any kind of a tree, that they can resort to summer pinching 
with advantage, and can sometimes to advantage remove wood 
too large for the thumb and finger to sever. A few instances 
will be given and others will suggest themselves to the reader: — 



Nezi< Heads for Old Trees. 165 

Adventitious shoots starting out on stem or limb at points 
where branches are not desired, should either be rubbed off in 
the bud or should have the terminal bud pinched off u'hen they 
have put out one or two pairs of leaves. The latter seems best, 
because in the young tree the leaves shade the bark, and if the 
tree is of bearing age the buds left will form fruit spurs. By 
this practice, of course, the cutting away of many large shoots 
at the next winter pruning will be avoided. 

Suckers, which properly, according to Downing, arc "shoots 
sent up from the root or from parts of the stem below the sur- 
face of the soil," should be removed whenever discovered. This 
mention will also include the pinching of shoots when more are 
put out close together than are desired to carry on the form 
of the tree. If three start and but two are desired, the third 
should be pinched, and the result will be the stronger growth of 
the two remaining. 

RENEWING OLD TREES. 

Improving and renewing trees by cutting back and grafting 
has already been considered under the head of propagation. It 
is often desirable to renew trees of a satisfactory variety, and 
this is done simply by cutting back when the tree is dormant. 
Cutting back should be done early in the winter, before the 
rise of the sap begins, and the wounds should be most carefully 
pared smooth and covered with the protecting materials which 
have already been mentioned. In cutting back, of course, those 
stumps should be left to support new branches which will secure 
the best balance and symmetry in the new head. When the 
new growth starts there generally appear many more shoots 
than are desirable, and selection of the best placed and most vig- 
orous should be chosen, the others either being rubbed off in the 
bud or pinched back when a few leaves are put out. In cutting 
back trees in the warmer parts of the State, the exposed trunk 
and branch stumps should be wrapped in old sacking, or other- 
wise protected from the sun, or serious burning is likely to take 
place. 

In removing large limbs it is desirable that the cut should 
be made in the right place so as to secure quick covering of the 
scar with new growth. Cutting so as to leave a long stub re- 
sults in an unsightly piece of dead wood on the tree, and this, 
in decaying, carries the decay deep into the center of the trunk 
or branch. Cutting too close prevents covering with the new 
bark, and also results in a hole in tb.e branch. Cutting just to 
the right mark, which is the outer edge of the little collar or 
swelh'ng which will be found at the base of all branches, enables 



1 66 Tools Used in Pruning. 

the wound to grow over quickly, and if the wound is properly 
treated when cut, there will be no decay, and the wound will soon 
be wholly obliterated. 

Trees often become " hide-bound," as it is called. Espe- 
cially in this dry climate the bark gets dry and tough, therefore 
cannot expand in proportion to the growth of the tree, or supply 
the amount of sap necessary for the demand. Slitting such 
trees here and there up and down the trunk and main limbs 
with a sharp knife seems to have good effect, for often in three 
months the cut opens half an inch, and a fine, clear bark, with 
an increase of growth, results. On old trees, too, there is often a 
growth of moss and lichens which should be removed. This 
can be done by scraping off the rough, loose bark and spraying 
with an alkaline wash such as will be described in the chapter 
on 'Tnjurious Insects." This will remove the objection- 
able growth, give the trees a clean, bright bark, and, probably, 
contribute to their vigor as well as to their appearance. 

PRUNING TOOLS. 

It is designed to give in connection with the chapters re- 
lating to the different fruits, some account of special practices in 
pruning which are found to be most successful in different parts 
of the State. Certain other considerations which relate to the 
practical operation of pruning in general may now be submitted. 

There is some difference of opinion as to the comparative 
value of the pruning knife and the pruning shears. The knife, 
if sharp, and well used, makes a smooth cut, with no bruising of 
the bark, and such a wound heals over perfectly. The shears, 
if of good pattern and sharp, also make a very good cut, but 
there is always some little injury to the bark on the side oppo- 
site to the entry of the blade. On small cuts, say three-quarters 
of an inch or less, if the blade is kept very sharp, the resistance 
does not make sufficient injury to the bark to seriously consider, 
and the speed with which the shears can be used renders them 
the main reliance for all the smaller pruning. Where much 
harm is done to the bark the wound should be pared smooth 
and the bark be left sound all around to facilitate the healing over 
process. Nearly all styles of hand-shears are used in this State. 

There are also, two-hand shears, which are very powerful, 
and enable one to work very quickly. The objection to them is 
that lopping is so easily done that one is tempted to leave large 
cuts unsmoothed with the knife, while if the saw is used, paring 
is more likely to follow. This objection applies, however, only 
to the abuse of the implement. When rightly used it is a very 



California Pruning Sazvs. 



167 



effective tool. There are a number of styles in use, both home- 
made and imported. 

Still another arrangement of shears is mounted on a 
pole, the cutting blade being operated by a cord, and having a 
spring to throw the blade back. The pole is jointed, so that one 
or more lengths can be used. With this device one can stand 
on the ground and shorten in the top shoots of a tree very 
handily. 

For larger cuts than can be made with the pruning knife or 
one-hand shears, there are pruning saws of different styles, of 
which the two shown in the engravings are of California design 
and construction, being made by the Pacific Saw Company, of 
San Francisco. The frame is made of the best spring steel, con- 




California Pruning Saw — Steel Back. 

structed somewhat on the principle of a butcher's saw, with the 
exception of the saw blade being much narrower; and instead of 
being stationary, it revolves so that the pruner is enabled to adjust 
the blade to cut at any angle, as is often necessar}^ to do when cut- 
ting where limbs grow close together, and where it would be im- 
possible to use an ordinary saw of a wider blade. The blade is 
only one-fourth to one-half inch wide, and tlierefore not liable 
to get pinched in the cut. Strength is imparted by a tension 
screw under the handle, which tightens the blade. The blade is 
easily detached by slackening the tension screw, and lifting the 
blade out of the slot in the clutches at each end. The blade 
can thus be reversed and made to cut with a push or a pull, as 
may be desired. The operator can carry this saw swinging on 

the arm while he 
is using his knife 
in paring cuts or 




;^.r^^**^^^^' 




trimmmg small 
limbs, thereby 
saving much time 
and annoyance 
in finding a place 
to put his saw when he wishes to use his hands with the knife. 

The foregoing saw is commonly called the Jessup pat- 
tern. Another similar to it, except that it is lighter and has a 



California Curved Pattern Pruning Saw. 



1 68 



Cut tins: to a Bud. 




Cutting to a Bud (Barry 



round handle, like that of a file, is known as the Hatch pattern. 
Another popular saw is the curved pruning saw, with twelve and 
fourteen-inch blades. As the engraving shows, the saw cuts 
with a pull. 

CUTTING TO A BUD. 

Whatever may be used to make the cut, it is important to 
sever the twig or shoot at that distance from a wood bud which 

gives that bud the best chance to 
grow well, and at the same time 
facilitates the healing and complete 
obliteration of the scar. Cutting 
too far from the bud leaves a stub 
which dies back, and is likely to 
carry decay into the pith and thence 
down into the limb. Cutting too 
close to the bud or carrying the 
slope down too far behind it, does 
not give it enough live wood to 
carry it, and it makes a weak 
growth. The accompanying engraving shows the right way and 
the wrong way to cut to a bud. In the first figure, the cut is 
too far from the bud; in the second, too close to it, and in the 
third the cut is made at the right point. 

Cutting to inside buds with trees of spreading habit, and to 
outside buds with upright growers, has been mentioned. It is 
absolutely necessary to study the habit of the tree to prune in- 
telligently. This idea will be enforced in the suggestions for 
pruning the different fruits. 

COVERING WOUNDS. 
Whenever wood is cut with so great diameter that it will 
not grow over in one season, the wound should be coated with 
something to keep the w^ood from checking and decaying. The 
old prescription of shellac solution — alcohol in which gum shel- 
lac is dissolved until the liquid is of the consistency of ordinary 
paint — is very satisfactory, and the solution should be kept in a 
tightly-corked, wide-mouthed bottle; the brush may penetrate the 
cork, and thus the preparation will be always ready. Instead of 
this, ordinary paint may be used. 

GATHERING UP PRUNINGS. 
Gathering up prunings for burning is a tedious task and 
quite an item of expense. Mr. E. M. Hilgard, of Berkeley, has 
invented a machine for gathering even the most refractory 
prunings by the aid of the horse, leaving the material massed for 
burning. Preliminary tests of the invention have yielded very 
satisfactory results. 



CHAPTER XI I I. 

CULTIVATION. 

It was demonstrated very early in California experience in 
fruit growing, that " clean culture " is the proper treatment for 
trees and vines. Though the frequent stirring of the soil and 
the complete eradication of grass and weeds have been advocated 
by certain horticulturists for generations as the true practice, it 
has nowhere secured such wide adherence as in California. It may 
even be held to be an essential to successful growth of tree and 
vine in California, and this being the case, it follows that the 
advantages of clean culture, which have been urged elsewhere, 
are intensified under our conditions. 

Chief of these advantages is the maintenance of the soil in 
a condition favoring root growth; this being sine qua non of tree 
growth and fruiting. The main feature of this condition is the 
retention of moisture, and the way this is secured by thorough 
cultivation is worth a moment's notice. 

Rftention of Moisture bv Cultivation. — It is afamiliar 
fact that water will rise in a tube of exceeding small diameter very 
much higher than the surface of the body of water in which 
the tube is held upright. The water rises by what the physicists 
call capillary attraction. A compact soil has extending through 
it minute spaces, formed by the partial contact of its particles, 
which facilitate the rise of water from moist layers below, 
in accordance with the same principle which causes the water to 
rise in the capillary tube. This movement is constantly going 
on in a firm soil, and as fast as the top layer is robbed of its 
moisture by evaporation, the water from below is drawn up and 
it too is evaporated. During a long, dry summer, the water is 
drawn up and evaporated from a depth of several feet in some 
soils, and the earth, beneath the baking sun heat, becomes "dry 
as a brick." 

When a soil is broken up by cultivation its capillarity is 
temporarily destroyed through the disturbed layer, because the 
particles are so separated that the mutual connection of the 
minute interspaces no longer exists. But if it be but roughly 
broken up, so that the disturbed layer takes the form o{ coarse 

169 



170 IV/if Clean Culture Is Essential. 

clods, the air has free access to the upper surface of the firm 
soil beneath them, in which the capillary condition still exists, 
and evaporation proceeds in the same way, though in a some- 
what less degree, than if there had been no cultivation. It be- 
comes evident then that the pulverization of the disturbed layer 
must be so complete that the particles are separated and capil- 
larit}' destroyed, and, farther, that the free access of air to the 
lower point, where capillarity exists, must be prevented. When 
this i^ done, only that moisture in the upper surface which 
comes in immediate contact with the air is evaporated, and the 
balance is retained for the use of the plant. Plants growing, 
then, in a well-cultivated soil, have the water in the lower soil 
held for their use, and as fast as they use it the supply is re- 
placed by capillary attraction in the firm soil below; or else, 
evaporation being stopped, their roots extend freely through the 
moist soil seeking the nourishment they need. 

Such is a brief outline of the theory which explains the re- 
sults gained by thorough cultivation of the soil, so far at least as 
retention of moisture is concerned. The practical demonstra- 
tion of this retention is easy. Go into a well-cultivated orchard 
or vineyard, push aside the soil with the foot and moisture will 
be found two or three inches from the surface or even less in 
some soils, while on uncultivated land adjacent, digging to the 
depth of several feet will show nothing but hard earth, baked 
and arid. 

In such hard-baked earth, moreover, the sun heat is con- 
veyed or conducted downward very rapidly during a hot day, so 
that in some cases the roots are actually baked, and very fre- 
quently are seriously injured in their vitality. When the surface 
is well tilled, it will act like a blanket, preventing a too rapid 
conveyance of heat downward and thus also diminishing the 
intensity of evaporation. When a crust is allowed to form it acts 
like a sheet of horn ; it conducts the heat freely, but unlike a 
sheet of horn, the crust also sucks the moisture upward and 
allows it to be dissipated.* 

Exhaustion of Moisture by Weed Growth. — But 
the pulverization of the surface is not the whole of clean culture. 
The moisture saved by arresting surface evaporation must not 
be lost by allowing thirsty grass or weeds to exhaust it. No 
exact experiments have been made to measure the loss of 
moisture by the two agencies, evaporation and weed growth, in 
this State, but the results attained by experiments in other parts 
of the world, which have neither the dry air nor continuous 
sunshine of California, are sufficiently startling to show why 



'Professor Hilg.ird, letter to General Chipinim, Pacifu Rural Press, May 26, 18 



Moisture Lost by Evaporation and Weeds. 171 

clean culture is so important in California. Prof. S. W. Johnson, 
Director of the Connecticut Experiment Station, cites * experi- 
ments by Eser, showing that under similar circumstances, during 
a month of summer weather, the loss of water from a soil cov- 
ered with growing grass was nearly two and one-half times 
greater than that lost from naked soil; also that evaporation 
from a hoed soil was only four-fifths that from a hard surface. 
Recent experiments in Illinois warranted this conclusion: The 
water saved during a week on an acre of land by cultivation, 
would, at the rate shown by the experiment, be seven thousand 
gallons, or would be equal to ab)ut one-fourth of an inch of rain- 
fall.t 

Rapidity of Evaporation. — Still more impressive are 
figures recently cited by Judge Kennedy, of Washington Terri- 
tory, and commented upon as follows:;!: 

Resorting to a table of annual mean evaporation for a period of ten years, at a 
point in England, I find the loss of moisture for the following months to be as be- 
low: — 

January 0.95 

February I.OI 

March .'. 1.77 

April 2.71 

May 4. 1 1 

June 4.25 

Total 14-80 

From June to the end of the year the evaporation there, as here, decreases 
rapidly as the weather becomes cooler and the year draws toward a close. 

An examination of the above table will show with what rapidity evaporation 
increases as the season advances, even in a climate so moist and cool as that of En- 
gland, and reflection will convince anyone that while the ratio of evaporation in Wash- 
ington Territory may be about the same, the actual amount evaporated from the soil 
in the spring and summer months will be much greater. Then, again, it is to be re- 
membered that in all the above months, except one or two, the rainfall, in England, 
very nearly balances the evaporation, while with us it is almost all loss, with a com- 
paratively small amount of gain, so far as rainfall is concerned. 

Even these considerations do not fully describe the surface 
evaporation from California soil. But years of observation here 
indicate that this great loss of moisture can be easily arrested, 
and that the amount of evaporation from a well-cultivated soil 
is but a very small fraction of that from a hard surface. Per- 
haps the simple fact that our orchard trees grow so marvelously 
with thorough, clean culture, and are ruined so rapidly b}- 
neglect, is as forcible proof as can be had of the need of the 
best possible orchard care and treatment. 

One more consideration must be adduced, — that this conser- 
vation of moisture in the soil is not only the surety of a season's 
growth and fruitfulness, but is the safeguard against injury from 
the years of deficient rainfall which occur now and then in Cali- 

* Country Gentleman, Nov. 5, 1885. 

+ University of Illinois, Bulletin No. ^, 1S87. 

t Walla Walla Union, March, 1887. 



1/2 Grooving Crops Betiveen Trees. 

fornia. The moisture supply is equalized by this storap^e in the 
soil, and the liberal rainfall of one year is held over to supply 
the lack of the next. Of course, the well-cultivated surface is 
also well calculated to catch the water. While from a hard sur- 
face much of a heavy rainfall flows off quickly to a lower level 
before it can penetrate, a loose soil retains all that falls upon 
it, except the excess, which disappears by seepage or drainage. 

It has sometimes been held by California orchardists that 
planting some tall-growing crop, like corn, so as to shade the 
young tree and the ground around it, is an advantage. This is a 
great mistake. Though some rich, moist soils may afford moist- 
ure enough to grow both the tree and the corn, it is a fact that 
in most cases the growth of the corn is made at the expense of 
the tree, and sometimes almost costs its life and thrift. It 
has been clearly shown by the researches of Professor Wollny,* 
that though shading ground by a leafy growth may make the 
surface layer of the soil moister, the lower layers are invariably 
made drier, and it is in these lower layers that the tree seeks 
its sustenance. The young tree should be shaded as has been 
described in the chapter on " Planting," and not by a growing 
plant. 

GROWING CROPS BETWEEN TREES AND VINES. 

The subject of all growing crops between trees or vines had 
better be disposed of jn this connection. As a rule it is safer 
to say: Grow nothing whatever between the trees if you desire 
the full success of the latter. As with all rules, this one may ad- 
mit of exceptions. 

Inter-cultures in orchard or vineyard may be allowed under 
certain conditions of the soil and the purse of the grower. If 
your soil is deep and moist and rich, and your purse is shallow 
and lean, you can earn the cost of planting and cultivation, and 
sometimes more, by growing a crop among your young trees. 
Of course, if you irrigate you can do much more in this direction 
than if you trust to natural supplies of water. 

There is much difference as to crops in amount of injury 
they may do the trees. Growing alfalfa has been known to kill 
out an orchard. Grain is less dangerous, but still is objectionable, 
both because of exhaustion of soil and moisture, and because of 
danger to trees from heat deflected from straw and stubble- 
The crops least injurious, because of their requirements, and 
because the constant cultivation of them retains moisture, are 
corn, beans, potatoes, beets, carrots, etc., squashes, and other 
members of the melon family, onions, and other shallow-rooting 



* Cited in Pacific Rural Press, May 3, lE 



Methods of Cultivating. 173 

vegetables. In the growth of these, however, there should be a 
width of four feet of well-cultured soil on all sides of the tree, 
unoccupied. 

In soils exceptionally rich and deep, and where rainfall is 
abundant, as in the Hay wards region, of Alameda County, or in 
the V'acaville district, of Solano County, inter-cultures of small 
fruits or vegetables may be carried on for a long series of years 
with profit both from the trees and the inter-culture. 

In similar deep, rich soils with irrigation, as in the moist 
region of Santa Clara County and elsewhere, immense crops of 
small fruits and vegetables, even as high as twelve to twenty- 
four tons of tomatoes per acre, have been taken from between or- 
chard rows, and one hundred and fifty sacks of onions per acre, 
from between the rows in a strawberry plantation.* In V^entura 
County the best land for apricots is likewise the best land for 
Lima beans, and some fields of Lima beans in favorable years 
have paid over $70 per acre — grown between young trees. 

HOW EXHAUSTION BY INTER-CULTURE MAY BE AYOIDED. 

But all inter-cultures are a loan made by the trees to the 
orchardist. The term may be very long and the rate of inter- 
est very small in some cases, but sooner or later the trees will 
need restitution to the soil of the plant food removed by inter- 
cropping. How this return may be promptly made and still 
give the grower the income which he may need from the ground 
between his trees is shown by the practice of D. Edson Smith, 
of Santa Ana, Los Angeles County. According to his own 
account -f* he came to California a poor man, and after buying 
ten acres of unimproved ground, a horse and cow, tools and 
trees, his money was exhausted. He took from between his 
trees the frugal livelihood for his family of four persons. He 
says: " Some object very decidedly to doing this. But I hauled 
manure from town and have put back more plant food than I 
have taken away, so that the ground is in quite as good condi- 
tion and the trees have made as good growth as if I had planted 
nothing between them." Mr. Smith irrigated his ground and 
manured it liberally. With such practice, inter-culture is, of 
course, admissible. 

Notwithstanding these exceptions, the rule that the trees or 
vines should have all the ground is generally true. It is also 
true that on merely ordinary soils, trusting to rainfall, or on 
shallow soils, trusting in part to irrigation, the trees or vines 
should have the full strength of the land and all the help which 
can be given them in the shape of thorough cultivation. 

* Santa Clara Valley, Oct. and Nov., 1885. 
t Rural Calif or itiati, Nov., 1886. 



1/4 ^/^^ Use of the Ploiv. 

METHODS OK CULTIVATION. 

Returning now to the subject of clean culture, it may be re- 
marked that there are two main divisions of practice in this 
State, each of which has variations of greater or less importance. 

First — Winter plowing followed by frequent use of cultiva- 
tor and pulverizer in summer. 

Second — Use of cultivator at intervals both winter and sum- 
mer, following if needed with pulverizer in the summer. 

It will not be attempted to render judicial decision as to the 
comparative merits of these two systems of cultivation. It is 
quite probable that each has claim to superiority under different 
local conditions. It will be enough at present to describe the 
main features of each division of practice, and perhaps to 
mention incidentally some of the claims by which each method 
is supported by its advocates. 

Plowing Orchard and Vineyard. — There is consider- 
able variation in the practice of plowing orchard and vineyard, 
in the kinds of plows employed, and in the times chosen for the 
work. Some plow but once, toward spring, whenever the ground 
is in suitable condition, and if there is much growth of weeds 
and clovers, a looped chain is run from the plow to the end of 
the evener to aid in drawing under the tall growth. Sometimes, 
however, the growth gets so rank before the soil is in condition 
to plow, that the weeds are mown before plowing. Where but 
one plowing is done, the soil is usually thrown away from the 
trees and afterwards is leveled back by harrowing or cultivating. 
If this practice is adopted, care should be taken that the soil is 
properly returned about the tree roots, for injury is sometimes 
done by bringing the roots too near the surface, which is soon 
afterward intensely heated by the sunshine. 

It is undoubtedly better practice to plow earlier, when 
the green stuff gets a good start, but is still not too high to turn 
under handily. In this practice the weed stems are not so 
woody, but they easily decay and act as a fertilizer. Where 
early plowing is practiced it is usual to plow again when the 
second growth of weeds reaches the proper state in the spring. 
Where two plowings are given, the earth is usually thrown away 
from the trees in the first plowing, and returned toward 
the trees in the second plowing. But this order is some- 
times reversed in situations where rainfall is heavy and the soil 
retentive, for the dead furrow between the rows often acts as a 
surface drain to carry off surplus water, which is thus prevented 
from standing around the tree roots. In all modes of plowing 
it is desirable that before the summer heat comes, the surface be 
leveled as completely as possible. 



Breaking Up Hani- Pan. 175 

Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of 
plowing when the soil is in good condition and not otherwise. 
To disregard this is bad enoui^h in all soils, but it is a grievous mis- 
take to work any of the clayey soils when they are out of condi- 
tion. If too wet they are puddled by the plow and dry down in 
hard clods, impenetrable by air, and even resist water itself for a 
long time. When clods are thus formed it may require long 
effort to bring the soil back to a good friable condition. The 
cultivation of adobe is one of the problems of California agri- 
culture. The more refractory it is, the more particular care 
is needed to take it when it is in proper condition to work. 
To work it when perfectly dry is simply impossible; and if it is 
plowed when too wet and sticky it becomes hard, lumpy, and al- 
together unmanageable. The condition which favors best results 
by tillage must be learned by experience. 

Another mistake, apt to be made where the orchard or vine- 
yard is but one of the branches of a mixed farm, is to put aside 
the plowing until all the field work is done, and in some seasons 
the soil in the orchard has become so dry that it turns up in large 
clods which are afterwards partially reduced by the harrow, 
but never put in the fine tilth which should be secured for the 
retention of moisture and otherwise to encourage the growth and 
productiveness of the trees. 

BREAKING UP HARD-PAN. 

Those who advocate the use of the plow, claim several 
advantages for it. The chief is that more thorough tilth can be 
secured. In most, but not all soils, there is formed by cultiva- 
tion an artificial hard-pan at whatever depth the implement 
attains, if this depth be kept the same for many successive cultiva- 
tions. This hard-pan, in some soils at least, becomes impervious 
to water and is otherwi.se an injury to the growth of the trees. 
It occurs in irrigated and unirrigated land alike, but probably is 
more quickly formed by irrigation. When continuous summer 
cultivation is practiced, the hard-pan will be found at two or 
three or four inches beneath the surface; at whatever depth the 
teeth uniformly reach. The remedy is to plow in winter just 
below this hard-pan layer and thus break it up, and then by the 
action of the air and rains it is reduced, and cultivation may 
proceed as before. Where the hard-pan is formed by the plow, 
the ground should be plowed shallow one year and deeph' the 
next, thus alternating from year to year. 

Green Manuring. — Another advantage in the use of the 
plow is, as has already been mentioned, the turning under of the 
growth of weeds, grass, and clover as a green manure. Many 
growers attach considerable importance to this, and some, who 



176 Avoiding Injury While Ploiving. 

have orchards in which growth has been killed out by long cul- 
tivation, are seeking for a quickly growing crop which they can 
sow with the first rains and secure growth enough to turn under 
with the winter plowing. This consideration may be farther 
presented in the chapter on fertilization. 

Plowing Hillside to Prevent Washing. — Where the 
slope of the land is sharp, there is much danger from washing 
during the rainy season, if the hillside is not terraced or 
furnished with ditches carefully laid out to carry the water down 
on a gentle grade. The old plan of plowing furrows one above 
another around the hill to check the flow and let the water 
down easily, is often found treacherous, because of the liability 
to collection of water at certain points and the subsequent break- 
ing away and washing. Recently some of the foot-hill growers 
have adopted the plan of plowing furrows seven or eight feet 
apart straight down the hill in the direction of its deepest 
descent. The rainfall is thus distributed over the ground so 
that not much water is collected in any one place and the harm 
done by washing will not amount to much. There has been 
some experience favoring this method, but it needs farther trial 
to determine its practicability under all conditions. 

The Best Plow. — For plowing orchards and vineyards 
many kinds of plows are used, including the ordinary one and 
two-horse walking plows, single and double sulky or riding 
plows, and gang plows- of different kinds. In several of the 
leading fruit districts there are plows made in the local shops 
which are patterned to meet the different soils prevailing. Which 
is the best plow is a question which cannot be answered, it must 
be determined by local conditions, and the best way to get infor- 
mation is to consult the experienced cultivators of the locality. 

AVOIDING INJURY TO TREES AND VINES. 

The great problem is to use the plow so as not to injure the 
trees and vines. Injury to the roots is one ground on which those 
who advocate the banishment of the plow from orchard and 
vineyard base their opposition, as will appear more fully presently. 
It is the usual practice to run the plow shallower when approach- 
ing the stem of the tree or vine, and this is easily done when 
using a riding plow or a two-horse walking plow between the 
rows and finishing up near the trees with a single-horse walking 
plow, which is a common practice. The injury by the plow to 
which especial reference is now made, is that to the bark of the 
tree or to the vine stump. 

Makers of special orchard and vineyards plows have re- 
cently made them adjustable so that the plow will work either 



A Popitlar Contrivance. \jj 

side of the central line of draft. Various methods of rigging 
the common plow and devices for disarming the ends of the 
whiffletrce have also been widely introduced to enable the 
plowman to work nearly all the soil with the plow and still avoid 
the injury mentioned. 

The Side Block. — One of the first appliances to come 
into wide use was that described by W. W. Smith, of Vacaville, 
and of which an engraving is given herewith. It consists, first, 
in having a single-tree so constructed that the middle staple or 
clip will be further from one end than the other — say two-thirds 
of the way from one end. Second, place a block of wood, one 
and a half or two inches thick, on the side of the plow beam, 
at the end, and then turn the clevis outside of this block. This 
gives the horse an opportunity to walk straight forward without 
having his legs rubbed and chafed by the tugs, and thereby 
keeps him from becoming fretted and irritated. At the same 
time it gives the plowman a chance to bear his plow close up to 
the row of trees, while the horse can walk with ease at some dis- 
tance from the row. 

The drawing shows it arranged for 
turning the soil from the trees, the 
block being placed on the mould-board 
side of the beam. When wanting to 
turn the soil to the trees, it is simply 

changed to the other side of the plow 
Arrangement for Plowing , ^ , ^, . , , ^ 

Close to Trees or Vine. beam, and the smgle-tree turned over 

— that is, turned end for end. This 
keeps the short end of the single-tree to the row of trees. A 
single-tree about eighteen inches long is best — having one end 
about a foot or thirteen inches, and the other about five or six 
inches. The principal feature or advantage in the thing is the 
way the single-tree is made. Some may think that it would not 
draw evenly on the horses' shoulders, and would consequently 
hurt the horses' shoulders, but such is not the case. 

Though this served a very good purpose, it has been super- 
seded in the Vacaville district by an iron attachment to the 
plow beam. It consists of an iron rod or bar so shaped that it 
can be bolted to the side of the beam, and it has .several holes 
by which the clevis can be placed more or less to one side. It 
is strengthened by a brace running back to a bolt which fastens 
it to the plow beam just ahead of the standard. 

Side-block and Shafts. — Though these enable one to 
stir nearly all the land with the plow, there was still injury done 
to the bark of the trees and vines by the ends of whiffletrees, 
12 




178 



Honie-iuade WJiiffletrees. 




SlDE-7!LOCK 

AND Shafts. 



and efforts to disarm the whiffletiee were next made. One of 
the first was that of Robert Caughey, of Point Arena. Mendo- 
cino County, who used the side-blocks, but also used an arrange- 
ment of his own device, consisting of a pair of shafts finished 
smooth on the outside so that there were no points to catch the 
bark. He found it very satisfactory, bending 
aside a tree it touched without injury to it, and 
obviating all trouble from the horse getting his 
feet over the traces. The engraving shows the 
home-made contrivance of Mr. Caughey. He 
riveted old traces to the end of the shafts and 
buckled them to the harness. It should, of course, 
be made longer or shorter to suit the size of the 
horse. The device as shown in the cut has the 
draft central, the short lines show how it ma\^ be 
carried to either side. 

Home-made Whiffletrees. — Another ar- 
rangement, also using the side-block, is that of C. 
A, Wyman, of Santa Clara County, shown in the 
engraving. The whiffletree may be made of any 
stick of wood sixteen or more inches long. Bore 
a hole in the middle for the clevis pin, and two three- fourth-inch 
holes from the forward corners of the whiffletree at an angle 
towards the clevis. Work a loop in a three-fourth-inch rope and 

run the rope through the three- 
fourth-inch holes in the ends 
of the whiffletree. Tie knots 
in each rope, so as to let six or 
eight inches of the looped ends 
hang in front of the whiffletree, 
and cut the ropes off behind 
the knots. By putting the 
toggle on the trace into the 
loop from the outside, it leaves 
a smooth side toward the trees 
or vines and never comes un- 
hitched while turning. The length of the loop saves changing 
the length of the traces when changing from double to single 
plowing. 

W. Pfeffer. also of Santa Clara County, advocates the use 
of a whiffletree thirty-four inches long, and does not find it too 
long. He bores two holes, about six inches each side of the 
center. He also uses the side-block already described. To 
throw the ground toward the trees he uses the block on the left 
side of the plow beam and the hole in the whiffletree on the 
right of the center. When plowing the ground away from the 




Whiffletree and Side Block. 



A California Improved Singletree. 



1/9 



trees he uses the block on the right side of the beam and puts 
the clevis pin through the left side hole of the whiffletree. In 
plowing on side hill he uses a side-hill plow with a side-block 
bolted on each side of the beam, and plows back and forth, 
always throwing the dirt downhill. Each time the plow is 
reversed the clevis pin is changed to the other hole in the whiffle- 
tree. By this arrangement, the horse always walks in the 
furrow, the plow takes plenty of land, thorough plowing is done, 
and a very little left for the hoe. 

Flat Hames and a Spreader. — Among the worst 
things for use among trees are the pointed iron hames which 
are found on most harnesses. They often seriously bark the 
branches under which the horse passes, and should be dispensed 
with. An arrangement used in San Bernardino County con- 
sists in having broad leather tugs and hames with only one long 
iron loop on the swell of the hame. The tug is passed around 
the hame and the end is brought through the iron loop from the 
under side, so that the draft will hold the tug tight between the 
collar and the hame and the end between the iron staple and the 
pulling part of the trace. A spreader is put between the tugs; 
it is made of a hard-wood stick sixteen to eighteen inches long; 
a hole is bored in each end large enough for a two-inch screw, 
a hole punched in each trace about twelve inches from the rear 
end, and the tugs are screwed to the ends of the spreader, and 
the ends of the tugs attached to the plow clevis. This gives no 
iron or wooden surfaces at all, either on harness or whiffletree, 
to strike the bark. 




■California Improved Orchard and Vineyard .Sim;le-tree. 

Improved Single-trees. — Later than these, came the 
orchard and vineyard single-trees, invented and patented by 



i8o Summer Treatment of Trees and Vines. 

Californians. The first was that of G. G. Wickson & Co., of 
San Francisco, and it is now very widely used. As shown in 
the engraving, it is made in two parallel parts, the trace is 
slipped between the upper and lower halves, and there held 
by a simple clasp, leaving fully one-half extending beyond the 
ends of the wood, and preventing the single-tree coming into 
contact with anything in passing, as shown in left-hand end of 
the illustration. With very young trees the edge of the traces 
might injure the tender bark, so a little supplementary trace 
is attached to the main trace at right angles, as shown in right- 
hand end of illustration, and passes between the ends of the 
single-tree, presenting the flat side of the trace to obstructions, 
in which shape it cannot injure in the slightest degree the 
tenderest bark. The engraving is made with ends unlike to 
show both styles of hitching. There are other patented devices 
for preventing injuries to trees and vines which can be seen at 
the stores of dealers in agriculture implements. 

Dispensing with Double-trees. — Still another invention 
which admits the use of two horses even close up to the trees, 
because it dispenses entirely with whiffletrees and tugs, is Sher- 
wood's Novelty Steel Harness, an Eastern invention which has 
secured the approval of some of our leading growers for use in 
orchard and vineyard. The plow is attached to the steel yoke 
by a chain running between the horses. Mr. G. M. Gra\-, of 
Rancho Chico, says that with them it is possible to work 
quite close to the trees and vines, and is especially desirable in 
the vineyard in working close to the vines when they have grown 
out about two feet, which is a difficult job with the old-st\le 
harness. 

SUMMER TREATMENT OF PLOWED ORCHARD AND VINEYARD. 

Where the orchard or vineyard is plowed twice during the 
winter, the land should remain after the first plowing as the plow 
leaves it. The moistening and aeration during the winter has a 
good effect upon the soil, both chemically and mechanically. 

If but one plowing is done, when the chief rains are sup- 
posed to be over, there must be full effort put forth to reduce 
the soil to good tilth, and to level the surface as much as possi- 
ble. This is done by harrowing with one of the several improved 
harrows which are now generally introduced and found very 
effective. They act in cultivating, clod crushing and leveling, in 
a most satisfactory manner. They are too well-known to need 
description. Each has its advocates and its adaptations to certain 
soils. As with plows, so with harrows and cultivators, the best 



Cultivator Instead of PIozlk i8i 

for one soil may not be the best for another, and local inquirj- 
amonij experienced fruit growers will be the best guide for the 
new-comer. In addition to the excellent implements brought 
from the Eastern States, there are others of California invention 
and manufacture, which have ver}^ marked local adaptations, and 
almost every fruit region in California has some embodiment of 
local inventive genius in the form of implements of tillage. 

The newest device for reducing plowed ground is the Lubin 
Pulverizer, invented by David Lubin, of Sacramento. It is new 
in design and operation, and has proved'successful on the soil of 
its inventor, which is rather difficult of cultivation. 

The secret of success in handling the heavier soils in spring 
working, is to secure as perfect surface pulverization as possible 
without compacting the soil. Light soils need a certain amount 
of firming after plowing, or else there is too free access of air 
and too great drying out. For these and other reasons, the 
grower has to study his soil and learn from observation the 
methods which succeed best with it. The practice which gave 
success under certain conditions might not be well adapted 
under other conditions. The use of the roller is a striking 
example of this fact. In some orchards the roller is a benefit, 
in others a decided injury. Senator Routier, of Sacramento, 
once said, after a little experience with a corrugated roller, which 
would no doubt be found valuable on some soils, that he would 
not have it run over his orchard for a considerable sum per acre. 

After the work incident to working down the soil after 
plowing, the cultivator is relied upon to kill the weeds, to break 
up the crust which may form after spring rains, or after irriga- 
tion, and to prevent the compacting of the surface layer of the 
soil from any causes. This work is identical with the summer 
work of those who do not plow their tree and vine land at all, 
but trust to the use of the cultivator summer and winter, and 
that practice will now be considered. 

CULTIVATION WITHOUT PLOWING. 

There are orchards in California which have not been 
plowed for years — in some cases the plow has not been used 
since the trees were planted. Instances of this kind are to be 
found both in irrigated and unirrigated land. It depends largely 
upon the mechanical condition and disposition of the soil 
whether the practice will give satisfactory results. It cannot be 
trusted on land prone to develop hard-pan, as has already been 
considered, and yet the term cultivation has taken such a wide 
range in this State, and the tools have reached such efficiency, 
that there is not much difference between the plow and the culti- 



1 82 The Philosophy of ShalUnv Cu/inre. 

vator, except that the former turns the soil and the latter stirs 
wiihout turnincr. For some who oppose the u.^e of the plow, 
use a chisel-tooth cultivator cutting to a depth of eight inches 
in the spring, but at other times of the year they do not cut 
more than half as deep. This treatment would tend to dispose 
of hard-pan. However this may be, and what the special nature 
of their soils, there are fruit growers both in Northern and 
Southern California who have for years trusted almost wholly to 
the cultivator, and who keep their orchards throughout the }-ear 
almost in the same state of tilth, never allowing a weed to grow 
nor the surface to become compact. As a rule, these growers 
run the cultivator teeth but three or four inches deep, and in 
some cases trust almost wholly to flat teeth with sharp cutting 
edges, running a little below the surface and acting as weed cut- 
ters. The chief claims upon which this continued shallow 
culture rests are: — 

First — That the surface is kept more even than when plow- 
ing is done, and a great part of the expense of plowing, harrow- 
ing, and leveling is avoided. 

Second — That the injury alleged to be done by the plow to 
the roots of trees and vines, and the growth of suckers from 
trees worked on suckering stocks, are also avoided. 

It is to be expected that the second point would be of con- 
siderable moment where surface flooding for irrigation is prac- 
ticed, for this is always held to lead to the growth of many sur- 
face roots, but it has already been remarked that it is not alone 
on irrigated land that the practice is followed. 

Without attempting argument on the wisdom of dispensing 
with the plow, it will be, perhaps, of interest to note the general 
principles upon which probably continued shallow culture rests, 
and the data is taken in the main from a lecture by Dr. S. W. 
Johnson, of New Haven. 

A dry soil may be made too dry by deep and repeated tillage. The reasons are: 
Fir-st — By loosening, the soil is made to e.xpose a vastly greater evaporating surface to 
the atmosphere than the compact soil presents. Seioiid — The capillary connection of 
the loosened earth with the underlying soil is impaired and its power of taking up 
and distributing bottom-water is diminished. Thus the sources of supply are ren- 
dered less rapidly effective. To conserve the water of a loose-textured soil its main 
tillage should be shallow, so that the bulk of the earth remains compact enough to 
hold the rain and to transmit bottom-water steadily from the subsoil upwards to the 
roots of crops. The surface, only as often as it settles to compactness or forms a crust, 
should be loosened up again with the cultivator, so as to maintain over the water- 
conducting body of compact earth" a relatively non-conducting layer of loose soil, to 
cut off the escape of moisture into the atmosphere. 

Of course these general principles apply either to shallow 
plowing or to shallow cultivating, but more directly to the latter. 



Honie-Diade Pulverizers. 183 

The essential point is in preserving the surface layer of piilver- 
z-s-tv/ earth. It will not do to have a few inches of clods from the 
size of a pea to that of a goose Q^'g. The finer the pulverization 
the shallower can be the surface layer, and vice versa, and this is 
probably one reason why in practice the work of the plow is, in 
so many situations, found the best foundation upon which to rest 
the year's cultivation. 

HOME-MADE RUBBERS OR DRAGS. 

In order to secure this finely pulverized layer, it is some- 
times necessary to use what is called a " rubber," where there 
are many clods which are merely displaced by the harrow or 
cultivator. There are different styles, and they are generally 
home-made. The most common form is made of two-inch 
plank in lengths of three or four feet, bolted or spiked to 
pieces of four-by-four-inch scantling running crosswise, the 
edges of the planks lapped like the clapboards which they used 
at the East for weather boarding. As these edges are drawn 
over the surface, the clods are rubbed into tilth if they are not 
too hard and dry. 

The following is another form with a device for use on hill- 
sides, as described by a Santa Cruz County orchardist: — 

I make the crossbars of round redwood poles about five inches in diameter. I 
put these about eight to ten inches apart, as where there are weeds this space is neces- 
sary to prevent clogging. It beats a roller or any other implement I have ever seen 
yet, and is cheap and easily made. If you have side-hill to work on, take an old 
crosscut-saw, knock the teeth off, and have some holes punched through and screw 
onto one side of the frame, the lower edge projecting between far enough to run into 
the ground. This will prevent sliding. I sometimes arrange the cross-bars diago- 
nally to the draft-line. I hook on with a chain which leaves the drag free. This, of 
course, is for a riding drag. 

Still another style with an attachment to prevent too great 
compacting and smoothing of the surfaces, which is not desira- 
ble, for reasons already stated, was described by J. W. Bailee, of 
Los Angeles County: — 

After thorough cultivation both ways if land is heavy and inclined to be cloddy, 
follow immediately with a drag made of two fourby-four scantlings, four feet long, 
and framed together so as to rest with a corner of the scantlings on the ground. 
Have the scantlings about two feet apart. Have a small harrow four feet square made 
with six bars and seven teeth in each bar; the bars made of hard wood one and 
one-half inches square, and teeih of steel one-fourth by three-eighths inches. Fasten 
this little harrow behind the drag, and go over the land. The sooner this work is 
done after cultivating the better, as a fresh clod of dirt is much more easily pulverized 
than after it dries a little. 

SUMMER CULTIVATION. 

There is considerable difference in practice in the use of the 
harrow or cultivator during the summer. Son^.c are content to 



184 An Instance of Thorough Cultivation. 

use the cultivator only as a weed killer, and after the weeds cease 
to grow and the spring showers are over, the cultivator is laid 
aside and the land is left unstirred until the following winter. 
This, of course, refers to unirrigated ground, for wherever irriga- 
tion is practiced, a cultivator must follow. It is a fact, however, 
that even if no rain falls, the soil becomes compacted to a cer- 
tain degree, and the best way to imprison the greatest possible 
amount of moisture below is to run the cultivator at intervals of 
four to six weeks all through the dry season. It should run 
shallow and only stir the surface laj^er. This constant summer 
cultivation is certainly desirable in young orchards where the 
soil is exposed to the full sunshine, or where crops are grown 
between the trees. 

WHAT IS THOROUGH CULTIVATION? 

As clean, thorough cultivation has been approved, it may 
be desirable to attempt to define the term. It can, however, 
only be approximatel}^ done, because of the great difference in 
individual views and practices. The care of orchards by con- 
tract, which is a common method with absentee owners, does 
afford some measure of the work and its expense. The cost 
varies, of course, according to the character of the soil. In light 
loams, ordinary cultivation is usually counted as worth froin 
$7.00 to $10 per acre, and cultivation with pruning of young 
trees at about $5.00 additional. An instance of a more com- 
plete cultivation is afforded in a contract which Mr. A. T. Hatch 
has made for 1889, for a large tract of )'Oung orchard on gravelly 
loam. The contract price is $12.50 per acre, and includes the 
following specified operations: — 

Firsi, plowing away from the trees followed by harrowing. 
.Second, plowing toward the trees followed by harrowing. 
Ten summer workings with cultivator. 
Three workings with shallow cultivator or weed cutler. 
Five hand hoeings around the trees. 

The contract intends the most complete and perfect work- 
ing of the soil and specifies the above merely that there may be 
no difference of opinion between owner and contractor. 

In cases where the land is infested with morning-glory, the 
rate per acre would be higher, for in such cases weekly cultivation 
is stipulated for in some cases, and this seems to be about the 
only way to cope with this formidable trespasser. 

Contracts for planting and subsequent cultivation also in- 
clude the filling of all gaps made by failure of trees at first 
planting, and the percentage of loss by good planting is usually 
so small that very little is added to the contract rate for that 
work. 



TJie Practice of Mnlc/iiiig. 185 

MULCHING A SUBSTITUTE FOR CULTIVATION. 

The use of a mulch or covering of the ground with a Htter 
of hght materials to prevent evaporation, is practiced to a small 
extent in this State. Though mainly used for berries of differ- 
ent kinds, recourse has also been had to mulching by vineyard- 
ists. The materials used are various, such as partly rotted 
straw, coarse manure, damaged hay, corn husks, corn stalks, 
vine prunings and leaves, and even fine brush from adjacent 
thickets. The practice has been found of greatest value on hill- 
sides where cultivation is difficult, and danger of washing of 
loose soil is great. There are cases where vines have been grown 
several years in this way to the satisfaction of the owner. The 
danger of fire in our dry climate when the surface is covered to 
a depth of several inches with a dry mulch is considerable. As a 
rule, the mulch employed by the California grower is a perfect 
pulverization of the surface soil, as has been described. 



C H A P T E R XI V. 

FERTILIZERS FOR FRUIT TREES AND VINES. 

Californians are but just beginning to use fertilizers in 
their orchards and vineyards. Some people have even held that 
California soils would never need fertilization, and that there is 
something in our soil and climate which releases us forever from 
repaying anything to the ground for the wealth of produce which 
we take from it. Such a view is, of course, without foundation, 
and yet it is not difficult to see how it arose. Early attempts to 
enrich the soil by the turning under of coarse stable manure, as 
is done in other countries, was undertaken here on light soil in 
a region of rather short rainfall. The manure did not decom- 
pose, and its coarse materials made a soil, already too light to 
retain moisture well, so open and porous that its moisture was 
quickly carried away by evaporation, and crops did not grow so 
well as upon adjacent land which had not been manured. The 
result was that people, always prone to jump at conclusions, at 
once set it down as a fundamental principle in our agriculture, 
that "manure kills California soils," and the postulate from this 
was that California soil was ordained by the Creator to be fed 
upon some sort of ambrosia of sunshine and shower and zephyr, 
and would not need, in fact would be sickened by, the strong 
food which the baser clay of the other parts of the earth's sur- 
face delights in. So the fiat went forth against manure. The 
corrals* became undisturbed guano deposits, and manure piles 
were fired in dry weather to get the soil poison out of the way. 
Innumerable tons of bones were gathered and ground in San 
Francisco and shipped away to countries which need fertilizers. 
Nature did much to foster the popular delusion, for field crops 
were gloriously large, and trees and vines grew rampantly and 
bore fruit the weight of which they were unable to sustain. 
How could there be more conclusive evidence that manure was 
a detriment to California soils? 

It is foreign to our purpose to discuss the general subject of 



*Inclosures for live stock of any kind. 

iS6 



IV/iefi Manure Is Needed. 187 

the use of fertilizers in California, and the changes in belief and 
practice which have recently gained ground. Of course, the 
marked falling off in the yield of shallow-rooting cereals gave 
the first unmistakable intimation that there was something 
wrong about the old theory of the perpetual youth of California 
soils. The lands used for fruit will be last to show exhaustion, 
because trees are deep feeders, and the soils, as they are often 
the very best and deepest of the State, selected for fruit because 
of that very character, possess, in an eminent degree, lasting 
properties, as is shown in the chapter on the fruit soils of 
California. But certain of these soils are already showing the 
need of refreshment, and intelligent growers are quick to min- 
ister to the lands which are giving them such generous returns, 
as they can well afford to do. 

WHEN IS FERTILIZATION NECE.SSARY. 

Though the use of fertilizers by our fruit growers is begin- 
ning^ it should be plainly stated that at present it is the excep- 
tion and not the rule that such applications are necessary. There 
is reason to believe that we have some soils which are really too 
rich for fruit. There is sometimes an over-rank growth of wood, 
which delays or prevents the formation of fruit buds, and there 
is a marvelous development of fruit which is inconsistent with 
the highest quality. For this reason the grower should not con- 
clude from the foregoing general remarks concerning the need of 
fertilization in California, that he must manure his soil whether 
it needs it or not. Especially is this the case with young trees, 
in which the wood growth is easily overstimulated. As with 
irrigation, so in fertilization; the tree or vine itself will give the 
observing grower hints as to its needs, and if the growth of 
wood and color of foliage are such as obviously indicate health 
and vigor, it may be concluded that the plant needs nothing but 
good cultivation and intelligent pruning. If the wood growth 
on the young tree be excessive, there is the greater need of 
pruning to strengthen the trunk and main branches, and if this 
is done the grower may be content to wait a little longer for 
his fruit, when he considers that he is building up a tree which 
will give him the greater weight of it when it does come into 
bearing. Of course this excessive wood growth may be checked 
by summer pruning, and the tree be earlier thrown into fruiting — 
a practice which has already been described as prevailing in 
some parts of the State. 

Usually cases of over-rich ground will cure themsehcs as 
the trees attain size and full bearing, and it is then the fcrtiliza- 



1 88 Intelligent Application Required. 

tion inay be necessary. WMien the tree or vine, which has been 
properly pruned and cultivated, is not able to mature a good 
weight of well-developed fruit, and make a satisfactory wood 
grow th, usually at the same time showing some degree of dis- 
tress by the color of its foh'age, it needs help; and if the grower 
is sure that the trouble is not from lack of moisture in the soil, 
he should bestir himself in the manuring of his orchard or vine- 
yard. In examining the soil for moisture, one should digdeeph', 
for there have been cases of moisture near the surface, and 
drought below. 

WHAT FERTILIZERS TO APl'LY TO FRUIT TREES AND 

VINES. 

A discussion of this subject from a chemist's point of view 
is beyond the scope of this volume. It may be stated, however, 
that California experience fully justifies the position that the 
most intelligent and economical choice of fertilizers is to be 
made after ascertaining by analysis in what constituents the soil 
is deficient and in what it is well supplied. In the chapter on 
soils there are numerous suggestions of this kind drawn from 
Professor Hilgard's work at the State University, and applica- 
tions already made in conformity with these suggestions have 
proved very satisfactory. But as soils vary within narrow limits 
of area, there must be analysis for each soil in question. This 
is a more rational, and as our experience shows, a more directly 
practical, method of procedure than to work backwards from 
the constituents of the fruit and base prescriptions upon such 
data without learning whether the soil lacks all these constitu- 
ents, or, perhaps, only one of them, and already has the others 
in abundance. Analysis of the soil also shows, sometimes, that 
desu-able materials are present, but in an unavailable condition, 
and that the use of a single cheap substance may set free others 
which can only be supplied otherwise by costly applications. It 
is upon this basis of direct and intelligent prescription that the 
use of fertilizers is beginning in this State. 

And yet, though the constituents of the soil, as learned by 
analysis, must be the basis of prescription of fertilizers, the an- 
alyses of fruits, as showing the special needs of the plants, are 
of the highest importance. The following analyses of the ash 
of the different fruits, containing, in each case, skin, pulp, and 
seeds, are compiled from various sources, and are supposed to 
represent an average composition of the fruits named. The 
analysis of the wood of the apple tree is also added for compar- 
ison with the composition of the fruit: — 



Chetiiical Composition of Fruits. 



189 



MINERAL CONSTITUENTS OF DIFFERENT FRUITS. 



Potash 

Soda 

Magnesia 

Lime 

I ron 

Phosphoric acid.. 
Sulphuric acid.. . 
Silicic acid 



Apple. 


Pear. 


Peach. 


Plum. 


Orange. 


Grape. 


Straw- 
berry. 

49.24 

3-23, 
8.12 

13-47 
. 1-74 
18.50 

5-66 


35-68 
26.09 

8.75 
4.08 
1.40 

13-59 
6.09 

4-32 


54-69 
8.52 
5.22 
7.98 
1.04 

15-30 
5-69 
1.49 


7446 

6.29 
2.64 

-58 
16.02 


5921 

0.54 
5-46 

10.04 
3.20 

15.10 
3-83 
2.36 


38.70 
7.60 
6.50 

23.00 
1.70 

14.10 
2.90 
5.20 


63.14 

.40 

3-97 

9-05 

.06 

10.42 

5-61 

4. 1 1 



Goo.se- I 
berry. 

38.65 
9.76 

5-85; 
12. iO 

4.56! 
19.6s 

5.89i 
2.581 



.Apple 
iree. 



19.24 

•45 

7.46 

63.60 

•07 

4.90 

3-29 
2.06 



Of course these analyses only represent the mineral con 
stituents in the fruit. Besides these there are organic compounds, 
the constituents of which are derived in part from the air, and 
in part from the soil. Nitrogen, in the form of some of its nu- 
merous compounds, is indispensable, but nitrogen has been found, 
both by practical experience and by scientific experimenta- 
tion, to be a most active stimulant of wood growth and foliage, 
and to check fruit bearing when in excess. When the plant is 
in good growth it will have nitrogenous material enough to serve 
it also in fruit forming, and when special stimulants to fruiting are 
desired, care should be taken to give the plant ample supply of 
the substances shown in the ash analysis. This, as has been 
said, can only be done intelligently after ascertaining by anal- 
ysis which the soil lacks. 

As a general rule, as shown by the examinations by Professor 
Hilgard, already mentioned in the chapter on soils, California 
soils are well supplied with potash and lime and the minor con- 
stituents of the ash of fruits, also with humus, which Professor 
Storer aptly describes as "a reservoir of nitrogen;" but that the 
materials most generally in smallest relative supply, and, there- 
fore, soonest exhausted, are the phosphates. 

AVAILABLE SUPPLIES OF PHOSPHATES. 

Phosphatic manures are now being supplied to fruit growers 
by importers and manufacturers located in San Francisco, and 
results attained by their use are such as to warrant continuance. 
They are purchased by the car load by Riverside orange grow- 
ers, and by vine growers in different parts of the State. They 
are ground bone, which furnishes both phosphoric acid and 
nitrogen in a highly available form, and rock phosphates, which 
are transformed into superphosphates, and, with nitrogenous 
matter added, also serve as good applications both for growth 
and fruiting. There are immense supplies of these materials 



igo Phosphates and Potash. 

which will come upon the market when the demand warrants 
the extension of the manufacture. 

Home-made Bone Manures. — Much good bone manure 
can be made by collecting and storing all the bones from the 
house kitchen, or by gathering bones, heads, horns, feet, etc., 
from butchers' shops or elsewhere. How to make such material 
available, by simple proceedings, is described by Professor Hil- 
gard, as follows:* 

The simplest way in which a farmer, who pays due attention to that fundamental 
requisite, the manure pile, can obtain the full benefit of a moderate quantity of bones, 
is to mix them in with the hot, fermenting manure, provided the pile is kept in a 
proper condition of moisture. The smaller and softer bones are thus reduced to a 
very efficient state of comminution within a few weeks; the larger and harder ones 
may be but partially softened, and will, in that case, mostly be left behind by the 
manure fork when the manure is hauled out, to be subjected to the same process 
a second time. The success of this convenient process depends materially, of course, 
Tipon a proper management of the manure pile, which must neither be kept sodden 
with water, nor allowed to "firefang. " 

Large quantities of bones are very conveniently treated where wood ashes are 
abundant, by packing them in ashes (which may advantageously have been previously 
mixed with about a gallon of slacked lime per barrel), either in barrels, hogsheads, 
or, best of all, in iron tanks, and keeping the mass as wet as may be without leach- 
ing. In the course of from six to eight weeks, most of the bones will be found re- 
duced to something much like putty; and this mass, with the ashes, makes a very 
efficacious phosphate fertilizer. 

Coal ashes, or any light soil, mixed with three or four pounds of common wash- 
ing soda per barrel, will do instead of wood ashes. The vice of the process is that 
much of the l:)one gelatine is thus lost in the shape of ammonia gas; but the bone 
phosphate is left in a very activ.e form. Where iron boilers are used in the process, 
a little heat can be made to accelerate the softening very much; but boiling does not 
pay. 

Burning the bones for the purpose of readily crushing them, spoils them entirely 
for use as a fertilizer. Nothing but treatment with sulphuric acid can afterwards 
render them efficacious. The latter treatment is too difficult for any farmer or other 
novice to indulge in. Burnt fingers and holes in the clothes is the least damage 
likely to befall the daring experimenter, and actual danger to life, limb, and house 
exists wherever the "oil of vitriol" is Icept on hand outside of establishments devoted 
to its use. 

As regards the manuring of fruit trees in particular, not the worst mode of util- 
izing bones is simply to bury them in the ground below the reach of the plow, here 
and there between the trees, which will gradually but surely embrace them with their 
rootlets and consume them completely. A tree thus manured will be sure to get all 
the phosphates it wants for its well-being. 

POTASH. 

Though, as already stated, potash is commonly in good 
supply in California soils, it is very desirable to guard supplies 
well, because, as the fruit analyses already given show, the use 
of this substance by fruit trees and vines is very large. Ashes 
from wood fires are the most available source of potash, but it 



*FaciJic Rural Press, July ig, i£ 



Value of JVoocl Ashes. 191 

is a mistake to regard wood ashes as only valuable for their 
potash contents. Professor Storer sa}'s:* 

I have found by analysis of a number of samples of house ashes, that selected 
samples contain 8/2°^-, of real potash, and 2% of phosphoric acid, or, say 4J4 lbs. of 
potash and i lb. of phosphoric per bushel. Hence there is enough potash and jihos- 
phoric acid to make a bushel of ashes worth twenty or twenty-five cents, and besides 
that, some ten or fifteen cents additional may be allowed for the " alkali power" of the 
ashes: /. e , the force of alkalinity which enables ashes to rot weeds and to ferment 
peat. The notion that ashes from soft woods, such as pine or poplar, are worthless, 
is an error. The soft w'_>ods yield comparatively little ashes, and the ashes are so" 
light that they m3.y be readily blown away l)y the wind; but weight for weight, the 
ashes from soft wood appear to be as good for agricultural purposes, or very nearly as 
good, as those from hard wood. 

But ashes may be very variable in condition. Stove ashes 
are, Of course, the purest to be had. Lime-kiln ashes and brick- 
kiln ashes, as sold at the East, are found to be so laden with 
limcdust and brick-dust that their value is less than half the 
estimate given for stove ashes above. Ashes from saw-mills or 
from burnmg of trees and logs should nearer approach the value 
of stove ashes, provided they are gathered without addition of 
earth. If straw is to be burned for the ashes it should be spread 
out: straw burned in large piles forms ash which is fused by in- 
tense heat and becomes insoluble silicates. 

These facts suggest to the fruit grower the direction in which 
to look for his potash. He should carefully preserve all home- 
made wood ashes and apply them to the soil at once, or, if 
stored for future application, be sure that they are kept dry. 
Leached ashes from the lye-barrel, or ashes from open piles, 
leached by rains, are hardly worth handling. Coal ashes are 
almost devoid of fertilizing properties, though if finely divided, 
as is the case of coals burning completely, their use is beneficial, 
mechanically, on clay soils, in the same way that fine sand 
would be. 

Wood ashes are a recognized commercial manure in the 
Eastern States, and are carried by car loads from the lumber 
regions, or imported from Canada, to be sold in the Eastern 
cities. It is quite likely that we shall see such a trade springing 
up here, as our orchards and vineyards show the need of potash. 
There must be large sujoplies available, if a market is made for 
them, in the wooded regions of the States and provinces in the 
Northern Pacific Coast, as well as from our own lumber regions. 

Large supplies of potash salts are now brought from Ger- 
many, but there are extensive deposits in Utah, New Mexico, and 
elsewhere in the interior which can be employed when railroads 
make them available. 



'"Agriculture," Vol. 2, p. 43. 



192 Value of Lii/ie and Plaster. 

LIME, GYPSUM, AND MARL. 

Lime is another substance usually abundant in California 
soils, but still often desirable as an application. This is notably 
the case on our heavy clays or adobes, where, as has already 
been mentioned in another connection, the use of lime as a top 
dressing, at the rate of six hundred to one thousand pounds to 
the acre, not only makes the heavy soil more friable, but acts 
upon and makes available the large amount of organic matter 
which such soils usually contain. Lime also renders inorganic 
materials more available for plant food, corrects acidity, and may 
destroy insects and fungi. Application of lime is also desirable 
after applications of barn-yard manure have been made for 
several years; and it is especially valuable wherever, in alhjvial 
soils rich in vegetable matter, there is an excessive growth of 
wood and leaf. Usually light soils are not materially benefited 
by the use of lime. 

As to cost and supply of lime, the following is pertinent: — 

In Berkeley, lime costs something over $14 per ton delivered on the ground, 
after deducting the value of the barrels. This might be considerabl}' reduced, if 
large areas were to be limed, by buying Ijy the Car load in bulk. Many farmers are so 
situated that they can buy at the kiln at $6.00 or $7.00 per ton, or, perhaps, burn for 
themselves at a less cost. It is to lie noted that stone which is not pure enough to 
make lime for masons' use, may do very well for the purpose in question. At kilns 
where first-class lime is sold there is usually a considerable amount of waste lime 
mixed with wood ashes, which is not used, and could be had at trifling cost. Where 
clods have formed under careless cultivation, the benefit would probably be very ap- 
parent. 

The kilns from which the central portion of the .State is mainly supplied with lime 
at present, are in El Dorado, Placer and Santa Cruz Counties, a moderate f|uantity 
being also burned at Los Gatos, in Santa Clara County. There are, doubtless, many 
other localities where the necessary supplies of rock and fuel could be had to pro- 
duce lime cheaply, and of sufficient purity for agricultural use. The farmer should 
bear in mind, however, that, while he is improving the tilth of his stiff soil by the 
application of lime, he must look mainly to other sources for that plant food neces- 
sary to keep up its strength under continuous crops, and avoid ultimate exhaustion.* 

Ground limestone is sometimes proposed as a fertilizer, and 
has even been offered on the market. It is insoluble and inert 
carbonate of lime, and is not worth the cost of hauling any dis- 
tance. It cannot take the place of burned limestone. 

Gypsum.- — Gypsum, or land plaster (sulphate of lime), is 
a well-known fertilizer. It occurs in considerable quantities in 
this State and Nevada, and needs but fine grinding to be avail- 
able and valuable. Its action in correcting soils made alkaline 
by presence of carbonate of soda has been mentioned in the 
chapter on soils. Applied to soils not alkaline, gypsum has 
been shown-f to act by setting free potash, magnesia, and ammo- 



*C. H. Dwinelle, in Rep. Coll. of \sv , 1875. 
t Agriculture by .Storer, vol. i, p. 2)7- 



Treatment of Hen Manure, 193 

nia, which may be present in insoluble form; and it also causes 
potash to be transferred from the upper to the lower layers of 
the soil, so tha: roots can everywhere find a store of it. Hence 
its special value when applied to deep-rooting plants. The rea- 
son why gypsum is so capricious in its action, which was long a 
myster}-, is now held to be clear, because upon soils that are tol- 
erably rich in fixefi potash it will do good service, while upon 
soils poor in potash it will not. In any event gypsum is to be 
regarded as an excitant rather than as a form of plant food. 

Of the several uses of gypsum, probably its chief value lies 
in its power as an absorbent. H added to manure in excess it 
delays fermentation, and it is, therefore, not a desirable addi- 
tion to the compost heap. But for covering fermenting ma- 
nures or scattering around moist places in horse and cow stables 
to absorb odors and fix volatile manurial substances it is of value. 
It is also valuable in hen-houses and in earth-closets. The 
following practice may be suggestive: — 

Each of my poultry houses contains about twenty-five fowls. Some have floors 
of boards and some have Isare earth. Immediately after each cleaning out of the 
dro]:)pings I sprinkle under the perches a bucket of gypsum. Twice a week there- 
after I have sprinkled over the droppings a bucket of gypsum. This renders the 
house free from odor. I remove the droppings only when I want to use them — say 
once in two or three months. The compost formed by the alternate layers of 
gypsum and droppings does not apparently create any unfavorable effect within three 
months. If I do not wish to use the compost at the end of that time I remove it 
then, because I would want to whitewash; and I put it in a pile undercover. Boards 
laid over it will do; or if in the dry season, merely cover v\ith earth or more gypsum. 
This compost is convenient for use as a licjuid manure, and is not oftensive. I prefer 
gypsum to earth, because it is a good fertilizer in itself, and it also possesses in 
a much greater degree than ordinary earth, the power to absorb the volatile gases, 
which are valuable fertilizers. Its cost in San Francisco is $13.40 per ton, 
free on board. I think every ton used in the way I have indicated, has a value at 
least trebled, to say nothing of the effect it has in sweetening the atmosphere.* 

Marls. — Marl is a calcareous earth, and is called shell marl, 
rock marl, earthy marl, etc., according to its origin and mechan- 
ical condition. Good marl should become fine powder on expos- 
ure to the weather. It is valuable chiefly according to its per- 
centage of carbonate of lime but often contains also potash and 
phosphoric acid. It is usually recognized by its whitish or 
yellowish color. A number of samples from different parts of 
the State have been analyzed by Professor Hilgard, and some of 
them commended for local application to soils needing lime, but 
not valuable enough to warrant hauling far. Though these marls 
supply limes to soils needing it, they do not act like caustic 
lime, as has been described. Sometimes the rock marl may be 
worth burning into lime for agricultural purposes. 



-'B. C. Brown, in Pacific Rural Priss, Aug. i8, jf 
13 



194 Proper Care of Barn-yard Manure, 

BARN-YARD MANURE AND COMPOST. 

Where fruit growing is carried on with stock growing, there 
are abundant supph'es of manure available, but this conabination 
is not characteristic of California, though prevailing to some ex- 
tent, and likely to be more prevalent as fruit planting extends 
farther from the centers which are wholly giv?n to it. But even 
in the fruit centers there are certain amounts of material avail- 
able from the animals that are kept for cultivation and hauling, 
or to be had, often for the expense of hauling, from adjacent 
towns. It is pertinent then to emphasize the fact that such ma- 
nure should be handled intelligently to secure the greatest ben- 
efits from it. 

It should be noted that manure from city stables which has 
been treated with disinfectants is thereby prevented from rot- 
ting and from exercising fertilizing effects as well. Carbolic acid 
will escape by exposure to the air. Salicylic acid must be re- 
moved by water. Composting such manures with wet earth will 
in time effect their decomposition. 

As already stated, coarse, unrotted manure cannot be used 
to advantage in this State unless it be in heavy soils in regions 
of heavy rainfall, and even in such situations either finely divided 
or well-rotted manure is infinitely superior. Corral scrapings, 
which are usually the first recourse when the idea of manuring 
springs up in a neighborhood, are not always well decomposed, 
but they are finely divided, and therefore decompose readily as 
compared with coarse straw, which, it is said, has been found 
practically unchanged even after lying two years in a dry, loose 
soil. It is therefore of the greatest advantage to prepare barn- 
yard manure with care for use in this State by some such 
method as will be described below, which includes composting, 
thereby turning to account nearly all organic material likely to 
be available : — - 

Clean up all the manure on hand just before the fall rains, putting the same on 
the land, and either cultivate it in or plow it under. \Vhat manure accumulates dur- 
ing the winter pile in a snug heap some five or six feet in depth, and throw it over 
some three or four times during the winter to keep it from burning, as well as to 
thoroughly mix it and thereby hasten decomposition. Put horse, cow, hog, chicken, 
and every other kind of manure that can be had, all together. 

Never burn anything that will rot, but haul to the pile corn stalks, roots, and all 
squash, melon, tomato, and potato vines, etc., as well as weeds of every description, 
in fact anything and everything that will decay and make vegetable matter. Use 
fresh horse manure mostly to hasten the decomposition of said vines, weeds, etc., al- 
ternating as the heap is made. By so doing there will not be a weed seed left with 
vitality enough to germinate. 

It is well to have manure piles under a roof to avoid leaching during the longest 
and most excessive rains, but so situated that the rain falling on the barn can be eas- 
ily conducted to the piles, giving them just the amount of water necessary and no 



Value of Sheep Mamire. 195 

more. Last summer I pumped, hauled, and put on a round manure pile, some twenty 
feet in diameter, and six feet in depth, one hundred and ten large barrels of water before 
it began to moisten the ground around the base. Soon the dark liquid manure made its 
appearance on every side, but this I had anticipated, and had close at hand a plenty 
of dry sand and very fine dry scrapings from the cow-yard to absorb it. I had 
enough of this wet, fine material to completely cover the pile on every side as well as 
the top, then I covered that with very fine dry earth, which served to keep the pile 
from drying out during the long, hot summer, as well as to retain most of the ammonia, 
etc., that would otherwise have evaporated and escaped. I had only to apply a few 
barrels of water some months after directly on top, and late in the fall I found it en- 
tirely rotten, cutting like old cheese.* 

Treatment of Manure without Composting. — Even 
when composting all refuse vegetable matter with the manure is 
not thought worth the time and trouble, it is just as important 
to properly treat the manure when stored alone. This can be 
easily done by some such plan as is described below: — 

For the handling of stable manure, I have found nothing better than placing it 
in a large bin and keeping it wet enough to prevent burning or "fire fanging." I 
have tried composting, and find that adds too much to the expense of hauling, be- 
sides the trouble of forming the compost heap. But with a bin, say ten or twelve feet 
square, and five or six feet high, built convenient to the barn, the manure can be 
placed therein and watered daily with much less trouble than it can be composted 
with other material. This, of course, presupposes the ability to run the water in 
through a hose or by natural flow. Care must, of course, be taken that too much 
water be not supplied, causing the substance to be leached from the pile. But in my 
own experience I find the danger is at the other extreme, and when I open my pile I 
sometimes wish I had used more water. In filling the bin leave one end or side 
open as long as possible, for convenience of filling. + 

Barn-yard manure and compost carefully prepared in some 
such way as described, and applied before the rains, to be turned 
under at the first plowing, will be in condition to be readily as- 
similated, and will not injure any soil. 

Sheep Manure. — The proximity of the orange orchards 
of Southern California to extensive sheep ranges has led to large 
use of the manure from the sheep corrals, and so great has the 
demand become that the price of the material at Riverside has 
been quoted as high as $3.50 per ton. Sheep manure is usually 
counted richer and quicker, though not so lasting in its effects 
as stable manure. In Riverside a good one-horse wagon load 
of sheep manure is usually divided between about a dozen trees 
of bearing age. In San Gabriel as high as twenty-five tons per 
acre has been applied to large orange and lemon trees. 

Being highly nitrogenous too free use of sheep manure tends 
to excessive growth of wood, especially on young trees. Old 
bearing trees may be benefited by such a stimulant. 



"••'IraW. Adams, Healdsburg, in Pacific Rural Press, Aug. 17, iS 
tB. C. Brown, Glenwood, loc. ci'. 



196 Use of Prunings as a Fertilizer. 

VARIOUS WASTE PRODUCTS. 

The care advised in savins and treating barn-yard manure, 
hen manure, bones, ashes, etc., should be extended to other 
waste products of the farm. Soapsuds should be allowed to run 
to adjacent trees unless used in the flower garden. Peelings and 
corings of fruit, cut for drying, should be fed to pigs and the re- 
sulting manure secured. It is not wise to corral the swine in a 
dry run in the summer and allow the manure to be sluiced out 
by the winter rise of the stream. 

Prunings. — Prunings of the orchard and vineyard should 
be burned between the rows, in small piles, so as to distribute 
the ashes well. It is not wise to carry all the prunings to the 
side of the highway and burn them there and allow the ashes 
to be lost. 

Special treatment of vineyard prunings has come into quite 
wide use in this State, and different methods are employed. One 
is cutting up the pruned-off canes with an arrangement like a 
straw-cutter, which reduces them to bits about an inch in length. 
They are then scattered over the surface of the ground, turned 
under at the next plowing, and soon decay. This is an impor- 
tant contribution toward perpetuating the fertility of the soil. 

Where, through lightness of soil and short rainfall, the 
woody fiber does not readily decay, a method of burning, which 
well distributes the ashes, is widely practiced. An iron sled 
about ten feet long is used. At its front is a V-shaped iron rod, 
to which a horse can be hitched. On the sled are flaring sheet- 
iron sides and perforated bottom. This is filled with brush, a 
fire kindled, and as the horse moves forward fresh brush is ad- 
ded, while the ashes, by its motion, are sifted out very evenly all 
over the vineyard. 

Refuse from Wineries. — Due attention should be paid 
to the utilization of waste products from the wineries. In many 
places we see the roads and avenues covered with the fermented 
husks, stems, and seeds, all containing the most valuable fertiliz- 
ing properties, which, of course, go to waste. If, instead of 
spreading this refuse on roads and in holes, where it is of no 
account whatever, they would scatter it over the vineyard, much 
valuable substance would be returned to the soil. In some soils 
application of raw refuse would be undesirable because of the 
acidity developed. It is usually safe on calcareous soils, and for 
other soils should be composted with lime or wood ashes to fa- 
cilitate decay and neutralization of the acid. Of winery refuse 



Hoiv to Use Mamires. 197 

the lees are especially valuable because of the supplies of potash 
they contain. 

Other Waste Products. — There are available from va- 
rious manufactories different waste products which cannot be 
specified. When any such material comes to the notice of the 
fruit grower he should seek advice from the Agricultural Exper- 
iment Station, at Berkeley, as to the probable value of the ma- 
terial, and its special uses. 

CAUTION IN USE OF FERTILIZERS. 

Besides the injunction already given against application of 
fertilizers when the soil is already quite rich enough to produce 
good fruit and plenty of it, it should.be noted that manures un- 
duly rich in animal matter should be used with caution, as they 
may overstimulate the plant, delay or reduce fruiting, injure the 
quality of the fruit, and possibly engender disease in the tree or 
vine. At the East, where the peach is subject to the dread dis- 
ease known as the "yellows," investigations covering a series of 
years lead to caution against "undue application of stable ma- 
nures. If necessary to use them have them well composted."* 
We do not have this disease of the peach in this State, but the 
caution will not be amiss, and the injunction to have stable ma- 
nure well decomposed is a good one, for several reasons, as has 
already been shown. 

The effect of undue use of stable manure, or other manures 
very rich in nitrogen, upon the vine has been frequently noted. 
Professor Foex-j- advises against such manure "on account of its 
too energetic action on vegetation, which causes the production 
of watery must, and wines wanting in solidity and flavor. Its 
influence does not last more than a year. These inconveniences 
may be palliated, and a more advantageous result be obtained, by 
mixing the fecal matter with vegetable debris (tan bark, sawdust, 
peat, seaweed, etc)." But the use of these coarse materials must 
certainly be avoided on light soils in California, for reasons pre- 
viously stated. 

METHODS OF APPLYING FERTILIZERS. 

Suggestions concerning proper application of barn-yard 
manures, both to young trees at planting and to bearing trees 
and vines, have already been given. The same conditions which 
cause slow decomposition of stable manures apply to any fertil-^ 
izing material which is not readily soluble in water. All such 

*Rep. of Professor Penhallow, Houghton Farm Experiment Station, 
t First Annual Rep. Vit. Com., by C. A. Wetmore. 



198 Use of Manure zvit/i Irrigation. 

material should be in a finely divided state. Surface applica- 
tions of ground bone, will, in the dry climate of California, lie 
practically unchanged for a long period. Ground bone should 
be plowed in as deeply as can be done without injury to the 
roots of trees and vines, and then, if the surface is kept culti- 
vated, it will lie in moist strata and decompose, or be seized by the 
searching rootlets. On the other hand, superphosphate, or 
other really soluble chemical fertilizers, will produce immediate 
results, and can be most economically used on light and easily 
permeable soils, on which falling water sinks and does not flow 
over the surface. In leachy soils a part of such fertilizers might 
be carried down beyond the reach of shallow-rooting plants, 
but there is no danger of this in the case of trees and vines. 

When superphosphate is used on irrigated ground it is 
sometimes drilled in to prevent its being carried along with the 
running water. One way is to run a chisel-tooth cultivator 
ahead of the grain-seed drill and to distribute and drill in the 
fertilizer as deep as feasible to do without injuring the roots. 

Application of Manures with IrriCxAtion Water. — 
A. B. Chapman, of San Gabriel, has for a number of years 
practiced the application of fertilizers by using the flow of irri- 
gation water for its distribution. The method is described by 
A. S. Chapman, as follows:* 

On my father's place at San .Gabriel we choose to manure lightly and often by 
shoveling sheep manure into the irrigating ditches, allowing each tree to receive about 
twenty-five pounds at each separate irrigation. Our basins cover the entire surface 
of the ground. We make no effort to choke such weeds as clover, alfilerilla, and the 
like; but the irrigator with his hoe destroys the obnoxious nightshade, hoarhound, 
and nettle- 
In the fall of the year we follow with a copious liming — about three bairels of 
unslacked lime to the acre — applied in the following manner at the head of our irri- 
gating ditch: We plant a box about three feet wide, six feet long, two feet deep, and 
six inches under the surface of the running water. In it we place a barrel of the 
lime. It slacks and swells to twice its original bulk. A man stands on this with 
his hoe and sees that the water carries it off evenly. With an irrigating head such 
as we use, a man will run into the ditch four barrels a day, or about three barrels 
to the acre. We have a considerable fall, and the water runs very rapidly; but it 
takes up all the lime, and the water runs white, like milk. 

We now leave the orange orchard till spring, when we plow under weeds, ma- 
nure and lime. We thus aim to supply our soil with nitrate of lime, potash, and 
magnesia. Carbonic acid gas is absorbed by the water and attacks the inert plant 
food in the soil; hardpan is prevented both by the mechanical effects of the vegetable 
matter and the lime. 

The basin method of irrigation, to which allusion is made, 
will be more fully described in the following chapter. 



*Address at Riverside Convention, Apr., i£ 



Groiving Plants to Ploxv Under. 199 

GREEN-MANURING. 

Mr. Chapman's practice also rests in part upon the value of 
green-manuring as secured by plowing under weeds and clovers, 
a policy commended in chapter 13, and frequently mentioned 
in chapter 3, as exceedingly desirable on some California soils. 
Green-manuring, aside from merely turning under natural 
growths, is also commanding some attention from California 
fruit growers. Where irrigation is practiced, as by Mr. Chap- 
man, it is feasible to leave summer growth of weeds and clovers 
for plowing under in the fall, but this practice would be ruinous 
where natural rainfall is relied upon, and the most careful culti- 
vation is required to retain moisture for the use of the trees or 
vines during the long, dry summer. 

Green-manuring, then, in unirrigated soil must depend upon 
the winter growth of plants, and where the natural clovers, etc., 
have run out by continual prevention of seeding, inquiry is now 
being made for annual plants which can be sown in the fall and 
will make quick growth during the cool season of the year, so as 
to be plowed under in winter or spring. Though experiments 
are in progress, they have not gone far enough to warrant 
naming of any plants as especially fitted for this purpose. It is 
likely, however, that such plants will soon be announced. 

FERTILIZING MATTERS IN IRRIGATION WATER. 

Water used for irrigation may carry in solution injurious 
substances, as, for example, alkali, as will be noted in the follow- 
ing chapter; or it may carry very valuable fertilizing properties. 
These facts can only be determined by analysis. Professor Hil- 
gard, in a recent letter,* mentions an analysis recently made in 
the University laboratory showing that the water of one creek in 
Alameda County carries to the land it irrigates about half a grain 
of potash in each gallon; which means that if twelve inches of 
such water were used on the ground during the season, each acre 
would receive therefrom about twenty pounds of fully available 
potash, being more than is required for an average crop of wheat. 
The same water would carry with it the equivalent of one 
hundred pounds of quicklime, and so on with other matters re- 
quired by plants. These things have a definite cash value in 
the market; and this value the irrigator gets as a free gift in 
addition to the water. Even in the case of the Nile, the sedi- 
ment is only a part of the sum of fertility conveyed by the river. 



*Marysville Appeal, Dec, ifi 



CHAPTER XV. 

IRRIGATION OF FRUIT TREES AND A^NES.- 

The general question of whether irrigation shall be em- 
ployed in the growth of fruit in California has been discussed 
for more than thirty years, and difference of opinion still exists. 
There is no hope of definite settlement of the general proposi- 
tion, because it is by its nature capable only of conditional 
answer. 

As shown in a preceding chapter, relating to the early his- 
tory of our fruit interest, the first American fruit planters adopted 
the Spanish belief that fruit could not be grown here without 
irrigation, and e.xpended not a little money on irrigation appli- 
ances, which, in some localities, they soon found to be useless. 
This naturally led many to the conclusion that the Spanish idea 
was wrong, and that frequent cultivation could well be substi- 
tuted for irrigation. The experience of the last thirty \ears 
has shown that neither the early Spanish nor the early American 
idea is true, as a general proposition, but that each theory and 
practice is right, under certain crircumstances. 

Whether fruit shall be grown with irrigation or not is then 
a local and specific question, and it must be answered with due 
regard for several conditions. These are: First, the average local 
rainfall; second, the character of the soil and subsoil; third, the 
situation and environment of the ground on which the fruit is 
to be grown; fourth, the kind of fruit which it is desired to pro- 
duce. 

These conditions are all correlated, and a knowledge of 
them all is necessary to an intelligent decision as to correct 
practice in any given locality. For example, the amount of 
rainfall which would be adequate in one locality, or in one situ- 
ation even, would be quite insufficient in another, because, first, 
one soil may be deep and fairly retentive, into which roots can 
i:)enetrate and find abundant moisture; second, another soil may 
have sufficient depth, but be so porous as to lose its moisture by 
evaporation, or so leachy as to lose it by drainage; third, still 
another may be shallow, and quickly dried out under a fervid 
sun, or quickly drained by reason of a sloping substratum of 
200 



Is Irrigation Desirable? 201 

rock or hard-pan, while another similar soil, differently situated, 
may receive abundant moisture from the drainage of the slope 
above it; fourth, possibly in all. the soils cited there might be 
adequate moisture for deciduous fruits, but citrus fruits would 
require irrigation; or enough for young, but not forbearing trees. 

Thus it appears that even to decide whether a location has 
sufficient rainfall for the growth of fruit without irrigation, one 
must pass judgment upon all the conditions first mentioned. It 
is hardly worth while then to discuss such a topic upon theoret- 
ical grounds, or to attempt to answer the general question, Shall 
irrigation be employed in the growth of fruit? The true guide 
is enlightened local experience, and the true test is the growth 
of the tree and the excellence of its fruit. So long as the grower 
secures a generous amount of good-sized and excellent fruit by 
natural rainfall, he need concern himself very little about irriga- 
tion; if his trees show distress, and his fruit, even when properly 
thinned out, is not up to the market standards every year, he 
may do well to provide himself with irrigation facilities, either 
for constant use or to supplement rainfall when it is occasionally 
deficient. 

Of course it is not commended as a rule of practice, that 
the grower wait until the tree shows signs of distress before ap- 
plying water. This is a very bad plan of proceeding, but the 
visible language of the tree is mentioned as indicating once that 
the tree needs help, either at regular intervals or occasionally, 
and after such a warning the grower should be able to tell by 
exainination of the soil and by study of the local rainfall record 
when this need will occur, and apply his water in advance of the 
need. 

VVHicther irrigation facilities shall be provided in localities 
where natural water supply is usually adequate, but occasionally 
deficient, is largely a business question. Will the securing of 
such facilities cost less than the profit to be derived from a fruit 
crop uniformly large and marketable, or will the loss at long in- 
tervals be less than the cost of providing facilities. The ques- 
tion is analogous to that of insurance against loss by fire. Is it 
cheaper to pay insurance than to be occasional!)' burned ( ut, or 
vice versa ? 

The fact that water is sometimes used to excess, and the 
fruit thus grown is found to be lacking in using and carrying 
qualities, militates not against irrigation, but against the igno- 
rance or carelessness of the grower. It has been clearly shown* 
by the experience of our fruit shippers and canners that wisely 



*Interesting statements from leading canners and shippers may be found in Pacific Rural Press 
for Nov. 24, 1888, reprinted frum Marysville Appeal. 



202 



Local I rr ligation Practices. 



irrigated trees bear fruit adinirably suited to their purposes, and 
that if proper size is not attained witli the natural rainfall, by 
proper cultivation, pruning, and thinning, irrigation should be re- 
sorted to. Of course the water should be applied at proper 
times, in proper amount, and in a proper way. An attempt will 
be made to aid the reader by suggestions on these points, but 
he must irrigate with his eyes open and his brain at work, for he 
will find plenty of local questions to determine by his own ex- 
perience. 

VARIOUS LOCAL PRACTICE.S. 

The information which will best serve the public concerning 
the irrigation of fruit in this State will be a sketch of the pre- 
vailing local practices as to time and method of irrigation, with 
suggestions which may aid the irrigator in the development or 
distribution of water. To secure a sketch of local practices, 
the writer has compiled from original sources the following 
statement concerning irrigation practices in the different counties 
of the State: — 

LOCAL PRACTICES IN IRRIGATION FOR FRUIT IN CALIFORNIA.* 



Del Norte. 
Del Norte. 



Humboldt. . 
Mendocino. 
Lake 



Napa. 



Sonoma 

Contra Costa 



Alameda. . . . 
Santa Clara. 
Santa Clara. 



Coast side 

East side: Happy 
Camp, Mount- 
ain Valley.. . . 



Alviso. 



Santa Clara 



No irrieation. 



Irrigate all kinds of trees by running water 
near them for one day, two or three times 
during July and August. 

No irrigation. 

No irrigation. 

No irrigation on heavy, retentive soils. On 
light, sandy loam and on red mountain soils 
water is applied several times from June 
to August, as the trees seem to need it. 

No irrigation as a rule. In some cases, on 
gravelly soil in the upper part of the 
county, one good watering is given about 
the last of June. 

No irrigation. 

No irrigation as a rule, but some growers 
use water on young trees, and on bearing 
trees when needed on non-retentive soils. 

No irrigation for orchard trees. Water is 
used on small fruits and figs in the lower 
part of the county. 

With ordinary rainfall; no irrrigation for 
orchard trees. In dry years a light irri- 
gation is given in April or May. 

Irrigate small fruits of all kinds, and some- 
times orchard trees. 



"The arrangement by counties in this statement is the same that will be followed hereafter in 
description of adaptation of fruit varieties, because it brinsis counties of similar climatic conditions 
as nearly as possible together. 



Local Irrigation Practices. 



203 



Santa Clara. 



San Jose. 



San Mateo. 
Santa Cruz. 



San Benito. 
Monterey. . 



Carmel Valley. 



San Luis Obispo 

Santa Barbara. . 
Ventura 



Los Angeles. . . . 
Los Angeles.. . . 



Los Angeles. . . . 
Los Angeles. . . . 



Pasadena , 

Westminster. . . 



Compton 
Pomona . 



San Diego San Diego. 



San Diego 

San Diego. . . . 
San Diego 

San Bernardino. 

San Bernardino. 
San Bernardino. 

San Bernardino. 
Kern 



El Cajon 

National Ranch. 
San Jacinto. . , . 

Riverside 



Tulare. 



San Bernardino. 
Redlands 

Old .San Be'dino 
Bakersfield 

Farmersville . . . 



Some growers practice winter irrigation; 
others, on certain soils irrigate moderately 
in summer. 

No irrigation, as a rule. 

No irrigation for orchard trees; small fruits 
in Pajaro ^^alley irrigated about twice a 
month during summer. 

Irrigation seldom, if ever, for orchard trees. 

Irrigate cherries when fruit is setting, and 
when it is swelling, or it is apt to drop off. 

No irrigation on coast side of the county, 

except for small fruits and citrus fruits- 
No irrigation for deciduous trees. 

Dry mountain lands back from the coast, 
apples, plums, and pears are irrigated once, 
in June; peaches on sandy soil irrigated 
once every six weeks after April. On 
deep valley land no irrigation. 

Twice a year — June and August. 

Orchard trees are irrigated the first year, and 
sometimes the second; once ayear, in June, 
is sufficient. 

Formerly it was the practice to irrigate de- 
ciduous trees twice a year, but has been 
found unnecessary. 

On mesas usually irrigate after May i, from 
three to six weeks between irrigations, ac- 
cording to the age of the trees. Some 
growersdo not irrigate deciduousfruittrees. 

Some trees are irrigated twice a year; some 
not at all. The peach does better without 
irrigation unless the season is very dry. 

Citrus trees are irrigated two or three times 
in a season, and deciduous trees once. 

Some trees are irrigated, others not, accord- 
ing to evident requirements. 

General irrigation wherever watercan be had, 
but deciduous fruits have been grown well 
without irrigation. 

All fruit trees are irrigated from three to five 
times during the season, from May to Oc- 
tober. In a dry season a good irrigation 
is given in winter or spring. 

About once a month during the summer 
months. 

Peach, apricot, and orange, irrigated about 
six times during the year. Another grower 
begins the first of June, and irrigates once 
a month until October. 

Irrigate every thirty days, from May, until 
the fruit is gathered. 

Frequency of irrigation depends upon char- 
acter of soil. Water is given as the trees 
seem to need it. 

Practice varies considerably. Some give one 
good winter irrigation in February; others 
irrigate once in the spring; others give two 
irrigations, one in the winter and one in 
the spring; others two or three times from 
May to August. Young orchard is irri- 
gated more frequently, as a rule. 



204 



Local Irrigation Practices. 



Fresno 



Merced Merced . 

Merced Snelling 



Stanislaus. 
Stanislaus. 



Modesto. 
Turlock. . 



San Joaquin . . . Stockton. 



San Joaquin. . . Islands . . . 

Sacramento .... Cosumnes . 
Sacramento .... Brighton . 



Solano • • 

Volo Washington ■ • 

Yolo . . Davisville. . • • 

Yolo Woodland . • • 

Yuba Marysville . • • 

Yuba Camptonville • 



Sutter . 
Butte . 
Butte. 



Chico . . 
Oroville 



Colusa. 



Colusa Orland 

Tehama Red Bluff. . . 

Shasta Redding. . . . 

Shasta Shingletown. 



Shasta Ball's Ferry 

Shasta Anderson . . 

Siskiyou Scott Bar . . 



Siskiyou Fort Jones. 



Henly. 



Siskiyou 

Plumas 

Nevada Nevada City 



Early practice was to irrigate frecjuently, as 
often as once in two weeks. .Since the soil 
has become saturated, and water-level has 
risen, some trees are not irrigated at all; 
others once or twice during the year. 
Once a month during the summer. 
On light, sandy loam frequent irrigation is 
given; retentive soils less frequently; de- 
cision is made by examination of the soil 
and the trees. 
Five or six times between April and October. 
Trees should be watered frequently in sum- 
mer, unless mulching is practiced, which 
proves a good substitute for irrigation. 

On loamy soils frequent irrigation is given 
during the summer, but much fruit is 
grown without irrigation. 

No irrigation, generally. 

In dry years an irrigation is given in June. 

Practice varies. Some growers irrigate only 
small fruits; others give two or more irriga- 
tions during the summer while the fruit is 
growing and ripening; seems to be espe- 
cially desirable for late fruit. 

No irrigation. 

No irrigation. 

Irrigate during May, June, and Jul}'. 

Irrigation of raisin grapes usually stops in- 
June; sometimes vineyards not irrigated. 

No irrigation, except for citrus fruits. 

Red mountain soil; irrigate liberally twice a 
month, from June to September. 

No irrigation, except citrus fruits. 

No irrigation for deciduous fruits. 

Deciduous fruits irrigated or not, according 
to situation and soil; citrus fruits irrigated 
for four months. 

On low lands some growers give a good 
flooding in winter, and then trust to thor- 
ough cultivation. 

Gravelly loam plains, winter irrigation suf- 
fices, except for small fruits. 

Some growers irrigate the first year, and not 
afterwards. 

Irrigation during June, July, and August 
seems an advantage. 

Red mountain soil; irrigate young trees twice 
a month, from Jime to September; old 
trees less frequently. 

Moist river bottom; no irrigation. 

Deep valley land; no irrigation. 

Loose, loamy, or sandy soil; irrigate once a 
week. 

Gravelly loam; irrigate once in three weeks 
during summer. 

Sandy loam; irrigate once a week, as a rule. 

Irrigate aliout once a month during summer. 

Twice a month during June and July, and 
sometimes in August; some claim irriga- 
tion unnecessary. 



Methods of Irrigation. 205 

Placer Practice varies as to frequency, from once a 

week during the summer, once in two 
weeks, or once a month; frequent applica- 
tion most prevalent. 

El Dorado Once a week or ten days, from June to Sep- 
tember, is usual. Some growers irrigate 
once every two or three weeks. .Some re- 
port plums and prunes doing well without 
irrigation, and fruits generally for drying 
can be grown without water. 

Amador Flat land, once in three or four weeks; hill- 
side, once in two weeks. Others irrigate 
bearing trees once in two weeks; young 
trees every week; others, on black alluvial 
valley land, do not irrigate; some hillside 
vineyards not irrigated. 

Tuolumne Practice varies greatly, according to soil and 

exposure, and intensity of heat; twice a 
week, once a week, once in ten days, once 
a month, from May until October. 

Inyo On sage-brush land, once or twice during the 

summer, and thoroughly when the late 
fruit is ripening. 

The foregoing sketch of irrigation methods is not put forth 
as a guide to local practice, nor as a statement of the best meth- 
ods for the localities named. It is merely an outline of existing 
policies and methods, which are, no doubt, in many cases, 
susceptible of improvement. The notes are from reports of 
practical operators in the localities named, and in most cases are 
merely accounts of individual methods, and not generalizations, 
even for the localities themselves. The difference in soil and 
subsoil, even on adjacent tracts, makes it possible for one grower 
to reduce or dispense with irrigation by resorting to frequent 
cultivation, while a neighbor cannot successfully do so. For 
this reason, definite instructions cannot be given, as has been 
pointed out in the opening of this chapter. And yet the at- 
tempt to outline general practices is of interest, and the writer 
would be gratified for any corrections and additions which the 
reader will supply as the result of his observation or experience. 

METHODS OF IRRIGATION. 

There are various methods employed in California for the 
conveyance and application of water to trees and vines. Some 
of the principal ones may be enumerated and described, as 
follows: — 

Permanent Ditches. — Permanent runways for water are 
becoming far less popular than they were in earlier days, because 
it is seen that the trees thrive far better if cultivated. There 
is, however, on hill lands difficult to plow and cultivate, and 
prone to wash, a naturally strong temptation to lay out the 



2o6 Applying Water in Fjirrozvs. 

ditches once for all on grades suitable for slow running of the 
water, and trust to seepage and percolation from these ditches 
to supply moisture to the trees adjacent to them. By this 
method irrigation must be more frequent than by other methods 
which will be described, because the soil is not so well saturated, 
and even the more frequent application takes less water than 
less frequent application through newly turned furrows. There 
is also necessity for much work with the hoe if the grower pre- 
tends to keep down the weeds — which, however, is not always 
done, and the running water distributes the seeds. 

Fresh Furrows. — Irrigation by freshly turned furrows is 
the most prevalent method in this State, and is popular in all 
our irrigated regions where the soil is such that water freely 
distributes itself laterally, and does not flow directly downward, 
as in some soils. The furrow system, as practiced at Riverside, 
will serve to illustrate the method. The private distributing 
ditches are usually paved with rock or faced with lumber, and 
run along the highest ground in the orchard. As the ditch 
passes each row of trees, a board is inserted in the side, as many 
auger holes are bored as will let out water enough to flow to the 
end of the row in ten or twelve hours. Application to the fur- 
rows for trees of different ages is described by the late James 
Bettner, as follows:* 

The young orange orchard planted in March should be irrigated fortnightly for 
three irrigations, subsequently once a month during the first season. It will be suf- 
ficient for the first year to run one furrow each side of the trees, close to them, and 
allow a small stream to run by for ten or twelve hours at each watering. 

The second season less irrigation will be needed. The same number of furrows 
will answer, and it will be sufficient to water once every six weeks, or even two 
months. 

For the third year about the same amount of water will be used as for the second. 
Beyond this as the trees increase in size, it will be found necessary to gradually in- 
crease the number of furrows between the rows until eventually, when the trees attain 
the age of ten or twelve years and are producing good crops, your furrows should be 
run through the whole space at intervals of about three feet. The water should be 
run longer after the first season, from two to twenty-four hours, according to the nat- 
ure of your soil as to porousness, after it has reached the end of each row. The 
amount of water needed for trees twelve years of age, in good bearing, will not be 
less than three times the quantity required by the same trees during their second and 
third years in the orchard. 

The Placer County method of irrigating by fresh furrows is 
described by P. W. Butler, as follows:-f- 

By the new method it is not necessary to apply water twice a week (as by the old 
permanent ditch plan), for (juiteas good or better results can be attained by irrigating 
once in two weeks by plowing a furrow on each side of the tree in young orchards, 
and filling them with water; throwing in dirt with a shovel where the grade is steep. 



*Paper at Fruit Growers' Convention of iS 
\Pacific Rural Press, Nov. 15, 1884. 



Irrigation by Flooding. 207 

so that the water may stand in the furrows. As soon as the furrows are full, shut off 
the water and allow it to flow into other furrows. The next day, or when the soil is 
sufficiently dry, run over the furrow with a cultivator not less than three feet wide. 

If the trees are large, plow furrows four to six feet apart, fill them as before, 
and afterwards cultivate crosswise of the furrows. At each subsequent irrigation 
run the furrows in a different place, that the water may be equally distributed through 
the soil. 

Weeds cannot grow to do injury by this method of irrigation; the moisture is 
conserved, and the soil constantly kept loose and aerated. With one horse and a 
single shovel plow, or a sidehill plow on steeper grades, one man can prepare ten 
acres for irrigation in a day, at a cost of $2.50. With two horses and a cultivator six 
feet wide, one man can cultivate the same ten acres in a day, at a cost of $3.50. 
This would make the working of ten acres cost $6.00, or a total of $6.00 per acre 
for a season of ten irrigations. The cost of tending the water will be little or no 
more than by the old plan of permanent runways. The stream being larger, it cov- 
ers the ground in less time, and need not run after the furrow is filled. 

It will be noticed that the two furrow methods described 
differ. In Riverside the water is allowed to run slowly for a 
certain specified time in the furrow without overflowing — count- 
ing from the time that the water reaches the end farthest from 
the distributing ditch. In Placer County the water is taken 
from the furrow as soon as it is once filled by a large flow. 

Flooding, Checks, and Basins. — These are different 
methods of bringing the water to bear upon a broad expanse 
of surface, and are best fitted for deep, leachy soils, in which, 
from the direct downward course of the water, the distribution 
by furrows would be very imperfect. 

Flooding, as the term implies, consists in allowing the water 
to flow over the whole surface of the ground, dirt being, however, 
drawn up around the tree to prevent access of water to the 
bark, which is a cause of serious disease. Flooding is done by 
running a considerable head of water broadcast down each sev- 
eral row, shifting it from one to another as soon as the stream 
has run through. To use this method the ground must be quite 
level or serious washing is likely to ensue, and the soil must be 
of rather a porous character, for the water is not held in contact 
with the soil as in other methods. Arrangements for flooding 
are sometimes made as follows:* 

After an orchard is fully established, say five or six years after planting, it is 
found l)est to use a two-horse plow, turning a furrow away from the trees, and on both 
sides of the row, at least four feet from the trunk. This leaves a strip eight feet 
wide between the furrows. The water is turned into these spaces and spread evenly 
over the ground, flooding this strip thoroughly. Then, when the soil is in proper 
condition, this space is cultivated thoroughly and leveled with a horse-hoe, cultivator, 
or other implement. The length of time that should elapse after irrigating and before 
cultivating, depends mainly on the nature of the soil. I have found this to be' an 
excellent plan where water is plenty; but where it cannot be had in sufficient quanti- 
ties, other and more economical methods must be resorted to. 



*"Garey's Orange Culture," p. 47. 



20 3 Checks and Basins. 

Checks or basins are employed to restrain the water upon 
a broad area of soil around the tree. They consist of an en- 
largement of the generally practiced method of irrigating gar- 
den shrubs and young trees by making a shallow excavation 
around the tree with a hoe (leaving some soil adjacent to the 
trunk), and running the water into this receptacle as long as 
thought necessary. When the restraining sides are made by 
throwing up back furrows with the plow, the inclosed space is usu- 
ally called a "check," from its resemblance to the checks made by 
levees on contour lines on large irrigated fields; when the exca- 
vation is made circular in form, and in size agreeing with the 
diameter of the tree (which is the rule adopted), it is called a 
basin. The "checks" are connected by a furrow down which is 
run the water to fill them. Begin with the lowest "check;" close 
the furrow leading into it. The "check" next above will then 
fill, and so on to the top of the row. This method is a good 
one, as it economizes water, and completely saves all fertilizing 
matter the water may contain. It involves, however, consider- 
able hand labor, though a good part of the work of making the 
"checks" can be done with the plow.* 

The basin method is largely employed by A. B. Chapman 
and others in the San Gabriel Valley. Every tree has its basin, 
and they are filled from the ditch which flows down between 
each pair of rows. When the basins are full the water stands 
from six to twelve inches deep in them. Mr. Chapman says he 
could not irrigate by running the water in a furrow. That would 
require less water, but a sufficient flow of water would wash 
his soil away, and a small stream would sink into the ground 
as into a sieve. Therefore it becomes necessary to irrigate with 
a large head of water. The use of basins prevents summer cul- 
tivation, as the}^ are made but once a year. Mr. Chapman's 
preference for such practice has already been described in the 
chapter on " Fertilizers." 

Sometimes these basins are worked with a spading fork to 
prevent evaporation. Others fill the basin with rotten straw for 
a mulch, to accomplish the same ends, but to this it is objected 
that gophers are harbored unless water is frequently applied to 
destroy them. Where the trees are large, and the drooping 
branches shade the ground well, the basins are undisturbed until 
the fall plowing. 

DEVELOPMENT, STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER. 
It is, obviously, beyond the limitations of this work to at- 
tempt an extended review of irrigation enterprises and practices. 

*James Bettner, Loc. cit. 



Diverting Water from a Stream. ' 209 

The enterprises undertaken by capitalists, or by cooperation 
among settlers, require the services of competent engineers. 
What these enterprises are, in the southern part of the State, 
where most irrigation is practiced, how they have developed and 
stored water supplies, constructed reservoirs, ditches, pipe lines, 
etc., is fully described in a volume which has just been published 
by the State.* The same service is contemplated for other parts 
of the State in which irrigation prevails, and California irriga- 
tion practices are also to be described in a future publication. 
All these matters are too great in extent and variety to be dis- 
cussed in this work. As, however, it has been the aim of the 
writer to aid the inexperienced planter to help himself in small 
efforts, a little space will be given to suggestions as to how a 
planter may develop and use such small water supply as may be 
derived from spring or small creek on his own land without em- 
ploying an engineer. 

Running Lines for Irrigating Ditches. — How far to 
go up a creek in order to bring water out upon a given piece of 
land is a question which frequently arises in individual practice. 
There is also doubt as to how much fall should be given to the 
ditch. The fall required by a ditch or canal depends upon the 
amount of water which it is desired that it should discharge, and 
upon the width and depth with which it is intended that the 
water should flow. It may also be dependent upon the charac- 
ter of the soil in which the ditch is to be constructed, and upon 
the peculiarities of the water itself. A strong current in soft 
soil may cause mischievous erosions. Water carrying much 
sediment must never be allowed to move sluggishly as clear 
water sometimes may. It is best to state the requirements to a 
competent engineer and act on his suggestion, or secure the 
counsel of a neighbor who has had experience with similar soil 
and water. 

Having decided what fall to give the ditch, the nearest point 
at which water can be taken out of a creek to be brought to a 
certain piece of land is found by commencing with the point at 
which the water is to be delivered (generally the highest point 
of the land to be irrigated) and running a line up stream which 
has the inclination intended for the ditch. 

To stake out this line when no special hindrances are in the 
way, use a home-made leveling instrument constructed as fol- 
lows: — 



^"Irrigation in California (Southern); the Field Water Supply and Works; Organization and 
Operation in San Diego, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles Counties." By Win Ham. Hall, C. E., 
State Engineer. For sale by the Secretary of State, Sacramento. 

14 



2IO 



Locating Lines for Ditches. 




Home- mvde Leveling Instrument* 



With such lumber as may be at hand, a triangle is made, as indicated in the 
sketch. The three pieces, A B, B C, and C A, are made fast to each other at A, 
B, and C. The board, A D, is fastened to the triangle at right angles to B C. Near 
A, on the board, A D, a plumb-line is made fast. The plumb, like a mason's plumb, 
hangs in a hole at F, so that when A D is vertical, the string hangs very near the 
surface of the board, A D. 

It will be seen that when A D h 
exactly vertical, .C C is exactly 
horizontal, if the angles at D are 
true right angles. An ordinary 
carpenter's square used in the con- 
struction of the apparatus will in- 
sure sufficient accuracy in the po- 
sition of A D. 

In marking on the lioard, A D, 
however, the line in which the 
string of the plumb will hang when 
B C is exactly horizontal, more 
care is required. Two pegs are 
driven, as far apart as B and C, for 
these points to rest on. The highest 
one is driven into the ground until 
the plumb-line follows about the center line of the board, A D. Having marked this 
position of the plumb-line, the triangle is reversed so that the end B rests on the 
peg where before we had the end C, and vice versa. Should the plumb-line lie in 
a position at variance with the first one marked on the board, then the correct 
position, for the B C horizontal, will be exactly in the middle between the two found 
by the aid of the two pegs. 

It will frequently be found convenient to have a scale of feet marked off on 
B C. The dimensions of the triangle may be about as follows: B C, 12 ft. long; A 
D, 5 or 6 ft.; and C Z>, 3 or 4 ft. Holes in the pieces A B and C A a.\. E E, or 
handles, will make the triangle convenient to carry. Only two men are necessary 
in using it. 

To use this instrument for locating the Hne of the ditch, 
calculate the amount which your line should rise between each 
two pegs. Drive a peg at the starting-point with its top say six 
inches from the general surface of the ground. Hold one end 
of the leveling apparatus above this peg by exactly that amount 
which the line rises per each instrument length {B C), and swing 
the other end around into the direction from which the ditch is 
to come, until, when level, it is just six inches above the ground. 
Drive a peg here, which will, like the first, be six inches high, and 
proceed as before. Care should be taken to give the top of each 
peg exactly the correct elevation. The level must be horizontal 
when resting on any peg and raised exactly that amount which 
the line rises per level length, above the pi-eceding peg. It will 
be found convenient to use a carefully-prepared block to hold on 
the top of each stake at the rear end of the level instead of 
trusting to measurement each time.* 

Locating Contour Lines for Checks or for Dis- 
tributing Ditches.— This work can be done with the aid of 



*C. E. Grunsky, C. E., in Pacific Rural Press. 



Hozv to Utilize Small Springs. 



211 




Locating Contour Lines. 



the level above described. For instance, to locate a contour (a 
line of equal elevation), as required in the construction of a 
check levee: Drive a peg until its top has a convenient elevation 
from the ground, say one foot. Rest one end of the triangle on 

this peg and swing the 
^^i other around until when 

B C ^s horizontal this 
other end has exactly the 
same elevation from the 
ground as the top of the 
peg. At this point drive 
a second peg and proceed 
as before. If the tops of 
the pegs be chosen at the 
height of the levee they 
may be retained as grade 
stakes as well as line 
stakes for the embankment. 

To find some point of the check levee, next below one al- 
ready located, or below the highest point of a field, begin as in- 
dicated in the cut, where P represents the starting-point. Below 
C drive a peg, P'; raise or lower C until B C is horizontal; meas- 
ure with some convenient scale the height (//) of C above /*', and 
make a note of the same. Repeat this operation between P' 
and P", and continue until all the heights, // //', etc., added to- 
gether are equivalent to the height of the starting-point above 
the base of the next check levee below it (generally the height 
of each embankment). The last peg should be, of course, a peg 
with its top at the surface of the ground. 

Storing Water from Small Sources. — For individual 
uses quite a respectable water supply can sometimes bs devel- 
oped from apparently mean sources. This can be done by 
clearing out and opening up hillside springs, and often by tunnel- 
ing into the hillside to intercept subterranean water-flows. This 
is done on a grand scale by water companies, but it is also prac- 
ticable in a small way. Small supplies of water are, however, 
always turned to best account by providing for accumulation 
and storage of the slowly gathering water. Mr. H. J. Rudisill, 
a prominent citizen of Riverside, has pointed out that even a 
small spring, yielding but two quarts per second, is equivalent 
to a three-inch stream, and would be sufficient for twelve to fifteen 
acres in fruit trees, and with sub-irrigation a much greater area. 
To derive the greatest benefit from small springs, however, a 
reservoir is necessary, in which the flow of twelve to twenty-four 



212 Building Small Reservoirs. 

hours, or even a longer period, can be accumulated, and then 
discharged as required. It is by using water in driblets that 
many springs are wasted. A spring supplying even one and a 
half inches of water would be wholly swallowed up by a thirsty 
soil within two hundred feet of its source, when by arresting the 
flow and accumulating it in a reservoir and discharging at inter- 
vals in a volume four times as large, it would more than cover eight 
times the surface. A spring flowing two quarts per second will dis- 
charge forty-three thousand two hundred gallons in twenty-four 
hours. This would require a reservoir forty by twenty feet, and 
seven feet deep, or double that width if the depth is decreased one- 
half. The shallower it can be made the better, for many reasons, 
but especially on account of the temperature of the water. That 
of springs is generally too low in summer for immediate use, and 
its value is greatly enhanced by being raised to an equal or 
greater temperature than that of the air. This is quickly done 
by exposure in a shallow pond. 

A reservoir can be constructed entirely in the ground where 
the slope will admit of it, and by lining the bottom and sides 
with clay well puddled, will answer for most purposes. At San 
Bernardino some are built of adobe, backed with earth and 
plastered on the inner side with hydraulic cement. Concrete of 
lime, sand, and broken stone is, however, the best material, where 
lime can be readily obtained, and any person with ordinary me- 
chanical genius can construct them. When the reservoir is shal- 
low, and consequently there is but little pressure, the lime will 
be sufficient to make it water tight. The limes of Southern 
California are slightly hydraulic in character, making excellent 
dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts, as the works left by the Mission 
Fathers fully prove. 

Where there are a number of springs of small volume they 
can easily be gathered into one conduit or reservoir by a system 
of underdrains, very cheaply made with broken stone. A grade 
of six inches to one hundred feet will not wash in ordinary 
earth, and will be sufficient fall to keep the drain free from sed- 
iment. When a greater fall than this is required, the drain could 
be paved with stone, leaving an opening sufficient to conduct 
the water freely. Or a cheap continuous concrete pipe of sand, 
lime, and a small portion of cement can be made in the trench 
or upon the surface of the ground by using a center-piece of 
wood turned to the diameter of pipe required, and as fast as the 
mortar sets around it the center can be withdrawn. Wooden 
pipe of two to four inches diameter is cheaply made in the 
Eastern States from young, thrifty timber, bored with the old- 



Taking Water from Ditches. 



213 



fashioned pump auger. When the pipe is required to withstand 
considerable pressure it can be greatly strengthened by bands, 
or wrapped with light hoop iron. The young pines and white 
cecar of the mountains would be excellent timber for this pur- 
pose.* 

Loss OF Water by Seepage. — The great loss of water by 
seepage during a long run has led to the cementing of ditches, 
and to the use of miles of large concrete and iron pipe by the 
irrigation companies of Southern California; also, where the slope 
is rapid, paving ditches with rock has been resorted to. Similar 
efforts naturally suggest themselves to the user of a small water 
supply to save his flow from loss. Where lumber is cheap, the 
use of a board flume is the best means of saving water, though 
it is at best rather expensive, and has to be patched and renewed. 

Devices for Taking Water from Ditches. — Water is, 
of course, easily taken from flumes by auger holes at proper 
intervals. Special devices are emplo}'ed to divert water from 
ditches. There is largely used in Southern California what is 
called a "tappoon." Tappoons are made of heavy sheet iron, 
and of a semi-circular shape, with the top or diameter of the 
circle securely fastened to a cross-piece of scantling two by three 

or more. They are made 
of different sizes, to cor- 
respond to the width 
and depth of the zanja 
or water-ditch in which 
they are to be used. In 
using them they are 
placed crosswise in the 
ditch at or near the point 
where it is desirable to 
direct the water upon the 
land to be irrigated, and 
they instantly dam and 
divert the stream through 
a lateral opening. They 
are also useful in closing 
the holes in "checks," so 
the water will not run 
through. 




Device for Taking Water from a Ditch. 



An arrangement for readily tapping a ditch is that shown 
in the accompanying sketch, which is used in the foot-hills. Its 
construction and use are described as follows: — 



^H. J. RudisiU, in Riverside Press. 



214 



Wheel for Lifting Water. 



Cut six-inch boards into fourteen-inch lengths, and sharpen one end and bore 
two iioles, as shown in the sketch. Cut the ditch bank and drive a board at each 
place where you want water turned out. Regulate the supply by driving down the 
boards, and shut off the water by plugging one or both holes with grass or mud. 
By always using the same quantity of water, once regulating the depth of the boards 
will last a season. 

The trouble is, the holes plug up with trash, but that trouble applies to all ways 
of spreading water, and the trash is good for the land. By cutting out the boards 
on the dotted lines, they do not choke so badly. Drive the boards well to the inside 
of the ditch, or you leave a niche for mud to eddy into. On well-sodded ground the 
roots soon close around the boards so that they may be pulled out when much water 
is wanted, and put back again. 

I bore inch holes an inch apart in the clear, and the upper one four inches from 
the top. It pays me to occasionally put on gum-boots and paddle through the ditch 
and slum out the leaves and sticks.* 

Lifting Water from Flowing Ditch or Stream. — 
Where a stream has a rapidity of two miles or more per hour, 
and a Hft to a height of six to sixteen feet will give head enough 
to distribute the water over a considerable area, there is nothing 
cheaper than the current wheel which is largely used in this 
State. The engraving gives an end view of such a wheel. 
Eight pairs of arms, carrying plain flat buckets like those of a 
_ steainboat paddle-wheel, 

|-^*° ». extend from a hub rotating 

r^ on metal bearings. At 

either end or both ends 
of each bucket are fixed 
water-boxes which fill 
themselves on entering 
the water, and on being 
brought to the highest 
point of rotation empty 
themselves into a receiv- 
ing trough. This trough 
supplies the distributing 
ditches, etc., and its inner 
end is so placed that it 
comes under the project- 
ing buckets of the wheel without interference with the motion 
of the arms. The current of water in the channel underneath 
forces the buckets down stream, the latter delivering in the op- 
posite direction at the top. By using a double set of buckets, 
one at each end of each bucket, the water may be delivered on 
both sides simultaneously. A little experimenting will indicate 
the proper size of the boxes, which depends upon the velocity 
and volume of water in the channel as well as the amount to be 
delivered. Such a wheel can be readily constructed by any me- 




End View of Irrigating Wheel. 



*S. W. Shafer. in Pacific Rural Press. 



The Miners Inch. 215 

chanic, and will cost from $25 to $50, according to size and 
workmanship. It may be made altogether of wood, with the 
exception of the bearings, but for the larger sizes (of from eight 
feet to fifteen feet or upward) it is advisable to brace well with 
wrought-iron tie rods. The water boxes may be made of wood, 
but tin is serviceable — the size chosen to be in direct ratio with 
the force of the current. It is not usual to paint the wheels 
unless iron enters largely into the construction, in which case 
red lead may be used* 

At the Fancher Creek Nursery, in Fresno County, a wheel 
is used eighteen feet in diameter, and carries sixteen buckets, 
which empty into a trough sixteen feet above the ditch. The 
wheel lifts about one cubic foot in two seconds. 

The Miners' Inch. — Irrigation borrows its water meas- 
urement from the miners, and horticulture in the foot-hills has 
fallen heir to many old ditches constructed by the miners. The 
"miner's inch" is the general standard of water measurement in 
this State. There is a slight difference in the miner's inch in 
some of the different mining districts. In some districts it is 
the amount of water discharged from an opening one inch square 
through a two-inch plank with a pressure of six inches above the 
opening. In other districts there is less, and in others more, 
depth above the aperture, etc. There is, however, a miner's 
inch, as described by section 141 5 of the Civil Code, which 
specifies a miner's inch in this State as that quantity of water 
which will flow through an opening of one square inch in the 
bottorn or side of a vessel, under a pressure of four inches above 
the opening. Fifty of these miner's inches are equal to a dis- 
charge of one cubic foot of water per second, and is less by .312 
of a cubic foot than the Nevada County miner's inch. The 
generally accepted inch of water is that which is equal to seven- 
teen thousand gallons of water every twenty-four hours, or about 
one hundred pounds per minute; and this amount will flow 
through every square inch of opening in a gauge under a press- 
ure of six inches above the center of the opening. 

Duty of Water. — What amount of water will serve for 
any specified area of ground depends so completely upon the 
character of the soil and subsoil, the percentage of atmospheric 
humidity, the crop to be grown, etc., etc., that no general rule 
can be given. The inexperienced person must inform himself 
by inquiring among his experienced neighbors as to local re- 
quirements. It may be stated, however, that the extreme service 



*.\Ibert Williams, Jr,, in Pacific Rural Press. 



2i6 Hints for Practice. 

claimed for water is from eight to ten acres of trees or vines 
and five to six acres of small fruits per miner's inch — meaning 
the amount of one inch running constantly, but to be handled 
in multiplied inches applied at intervals. 

RANDOM SUGGESTIONS. 

Without attempting an impossible thing, to wit, to furnish 
explicit directions for the practice of irrigation, for much of it 
every man must learn for himself by experience, a few sug- 
gestions may be noted, even though more important ones do not 
come to mind: — 

Usually water should be prevented from actual contact with 
the trunk of the tree. Citrus trees are especially sensitive to 
such contact, and resent it by "gum disease," which was formerly 
far more prevalent in the State than now. Care must, therefore, 
be taken not to set trees which are to be irrigated, too low. It 
is better to raise them up a little and draw the earth up around 
them to prevent approach of the water. 

If possible the ditch should run on the shady side of the 
tree because reflected sunshine from the water surface may burn 
the bark. 

In examining soil to ascertain dryness, one must dig deeply, 
for often an upper layer will be fairly moist, if well cultivated, 
while lower layers, where the feeding rootlets are, will be arid. 
Therefore, when trees or vines are suffering, dig far down in ex- 
amining the soil. 

In irrigating, thorough, deep soaking is necessary, and ex- 
amination must be made to see if an artificial hardpan which 
prevents the descent of the water has been formed. 

In distributing water on hillsides, ditches must, of course, 
follow serpentine courses, according to contour lines, to give the 
water a slow flow, which is conducive to seepage. These same 
ditches will in winter conduct the storm water slowly to the bot- 
tom of the slope and prevent washing. 

Be careful not to continue irrigation too late in the season. 
It will prevent the proper dormancy of deciduous trees, and if 
more fall irrigation is given citrus trees than they need for per- 
fecting the fruit, the trees will continue growing tender shoots 
until they are injured by severe frosts. On the other hand, it is 
sometimes advisable to give deciduous trees a draft of water 
after the fruit has been gathered, if the soil is so dry that the 
tree is likely to drop its leaves too soon, and wake from its dor- 
mancy with the first rains. Many times the fall blooming of 
deciduous trees, which is very undesirable, may be prevented by 



Sub-Irrigation. 2/7 

keeping them growing later in the summer by moderate irriga- 
tion. 

Many times a reservoir can be cheaply made by hollowing 
out a basin on the top of a knoll, making the sides rather flat, 
and finishing with cement directly on the hard earth. To such 
a reservoir water can be pumped, and afterwards easily distrib- 
uted to lower grounds by gravitation. 

Cold water is not desirable for irrigation, as has been re- 
marked in connection with the building of small reservoirs. 
Winter irrigation with cold water has, however, been employed 
to prevent trees from coming out too soon in a mild winter. 

If trees or vines, in regions usually irrigated, are to be 
grown without irrigation, it is important that the grower be more 
than usually thorough and constant with his summer cultivation. 
In trying the non-irrigation experiment one should, of course, 
begin with young trees which have not been irrigated, and not 
usually expect success by withdrawing the water from trees 
which have been accustomed to it, and have developed a root 
system accordingly. 

SUB-IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA. 

The application of water to the soil by subterranean con- 
duits was suggested many years ago, and practiced to a limited 
extent. In the early days iron troughs inverted upon redwood 
boards, small flumes or boxes of redwood, bricks set on edge 
and covered with redwood boards, drain tiles, etc., were suggested, 
but no such device came into active use. The idea in all these 
devices was to bring the water to the roots of the plants, thus 
saving water by preventing evaporation, reducing cost of culti- 
vation, and preventing growth of weeds by preserving the top 
layer of the soil dry. The expense of all such arrangements, 
for material and for cost of excavating and placing these con- 
ductors two feet under-ground, was a bar against the introduc- 
tion of the system, and the filling of the conductors with thirsty 
roots seeking moisture, showed that it would be necessary to 
take up and clear out the pipes at intervals, thus increasing the 
expense bill. A few years ago a system of sub-irrigation was 
devised by E. M. Hamilton, of Los Angeles, which was vastly 
superior to any previously suggested, in that it consisted in lay- 
ing a continuous cement pipe by a machine operating in the 
trench, thus leaving no crevices for the entrance of roots, and in 
providing exits for the water also guarded from the approach of 
roots. Elaborate illustrated descriptions of the system were 
published, and, perhaps, a few hundred acres were piped by this 
system. The cost of introducing the pipes and providing suit- 



2i8 Sub- Irrigating Garden Trees. 

able reservoirs was greater than anticipated, and, in some cases, 
the pipe being too poor in cement, did not endure. For these, 
and, perhaps, other causes, the system has not secured wide use 
in this State. Theoretically, it seemed the perfection of direct 
and economical distribution of water, and there is still wide in- 
quiry as to the reasons for its apparent decadence, which has not 
yet been fully explained. 

Though the irrigation of single trees is usually done by 
hoeing excavations around them, into which water is poured, 
and fine, dry soil hoed over the moistened surface afterward, it 
may be that some reader growing a few trees in his garden 
may think it worth while to prepare for sub-irrigation by the 
following effective, but rather troublesome, way: At the time the 
tree is planted, at the bottom of the hole put a la\'er of sand 
one inch deep; in this sand set an empty tin cylinder, two or 
three inches in diameter, open at both ends, and long enough to 
reach above the surface of the ground; over the sand spread 
another layer of soil suitable for the nourishment of the tree; 
upon this place the tree and fill in, as usual. Now fill the tin 
tube with gravel or coarse sand, gently poured in, so that when 
the tube is withdrawn the sand will drop through it and fill the 
hole. A tunnel shape may be given to the upper part of the 
gravel column, by working the tube around when it has been 
nearly withdrawn; and it is well to leave a trench around the 
rim of the excavation, that will hold two or three buckets of 
water. The water, nearly as fast as poured in, sinks down the 
gravel shaft and distributes itself among the roots of the tree. 
Some gardeners reach the same result by burying a drain tile, 
tin can, or something of the kind without a bottom, in the hole 
with the tree, allowing the top to be about flush with the surface 
of the ground, where some sort of a cover is used. When water 
is poured into the receptacle it soon sinks away at the bottom. 
Such arrangements are only practicable in gardens where one is 
content to give much time to a few trees. 

Pumping Water for Irrigation. — Hundreds of horse- 
power and steam pumps are used in this State for lifting water 
from wells and streams to irrigate both large and small areas. 
Information concerning cost and service performed is readily 
attainable from the manufacturers and dealers in this class of 
machinery. 

Irrigation from Flowing Wells. — The number of ar- 
tesian wells has multiplied rapidly during the last few years, 
and whole regions, like that east of Tulare Lake, are being 



Winter Irrigation. 219 

turned into orchards, vineyards, and gardens, by the flowing 
water, which is cheaply obtained by boring. The older artesian 
districts are the Anaheim district, of Los Angeles County, and 
the Alviso district, of Santa Clara County. Recent experience 
shows that artesian water can be had in many parts of the State, 
not only in the broad, low valleys, but in the mountain valleys 
high up in the Sierra Nevada. 

WINTER IRRIGATION. 

The practice of winter irrigation is growing in California, 
both in the "irrigated districts" and in districts in which re- 
liance is usually placed on rainfall. In many soils it has been 
found that thorough soaking of the soil in winter, followed by 
thorough summer cultivation, will take the place of much sum- 
mer irrigation, and in non-irrigating regions, a good winter soak- 
ing artificially insures against occasional seasons of scant rain- 
fall. But in all soils and situations, winter irrigation will not 
suffice, just as in some soils an average rainfall of, say forty 
inches, will not carry the trees through the summer, though in 
other soils half that amount may make irrigation unnecessary. 

In all soils, however, which, under good cultivation, are 
fairly retentive, winter Irrigation, when water is most abundant, 
and usually carries most sediment, can be made to go far toward 
making summer irrigation unnecessary for all deciduous fruits, 
including, of course, the grape, which is, perhaps, most prospered 
by the practice which has been adopted in a number of large 
vineyards in different parts of the State. 

As to winter irrigation, practice varies ; some relying upon 
a single heavy flooding by using checks on contour lines, by 
which, perhaps, a foot in depth or more of water i> allowed to 
soak into the soil; others use the same method of application in 
winter as in summer, and, therefore, give a number of irrigations 
in winter. There is, of course, much less danger of injury by 
water to deciduous growths in winter, because they are dormant, 
though an eye should be kept on drainage for excessive irriga- 
tion as for excessive rainfall. The grape and the pear are 
known to endure long submergence, but some other fruits are 
sensitive about it. 

DRAINAGE. 

So many allusions have been already made to the subject 
of proper drainage of fruit lands, and so many more will, prob- 
ably, follow, that it will not be necessary to make a long special 
plea for its importance. It may be said, however, that in regard 
to drainage, as to fertilization, which has been cited, there has been 



220 Drainage in California. 

for a long time a very erroneous popular generalization that 
California soils do not need drainage; that in a dry State the 
aim should be to retain moisture, not to part with it. It is, of 
course, true that we have vast areas of naturally well-drained 
soil, upon which any money spent for drainage would be in 
great part thrown away, but we have, also, both in the valley and 
on the hillsides, localities where, by peculiar character and con- 
formation of the subsoil, water is held in the soil until evapo- 
rated from the surface, and the result is a boggy, miry condition 
which prevents proper winter cultivation, and at the same time 
injures the roots of the trees or vines. This defective cultiva- 
tion added to the puddling effect of standing water, makes the 
soil dry out completely under the fervid sun of summer, and 
the result is that the wettest soil of the winter is the driest 
in the summer, and plants which are injured by soaking in 
winter suffer again from lack of moisture and sustenance in 
summer. Thus it is a fact, clearly proven by observation 
and experience, that thorough under-drainage removes surplus 
moisture in winter, and ministers to the retention of moisture 
in summer. More than this, a soil puddled by standing water 
cannot present its contents in available form for plant nutrition, 
and besides it loses the fertilizing effects of atmospheric cur- 
rents which freely pass through an open, well-drained soil. Wet 
land is cold and late in spring, and hot as a baked brick under 
the summer sun ; it is no fiction of the imagination to say that 
well-drained land is warm in winter and cool in summer — that 
is, cool to a degree which favors quick and free root growth, and 
cool enough to escape the parching effect of deeply baked soil. 

These, and a host of similar considerations, which have 
made underdrainage popular in older 'countries, are of weight 
in California. Possibly, as a rule, because of our vast area of 
deep, kind loams, the proportion of land needing drainage in 
this State is less than elsewhere, and yet there is a vast extent 
of country to be improved by tiling. This fact is being con- 
stantly more widely recognized, and each year a greater mileage 
of under-drains is put in. 

Information on the construction of under-drains is too avail- 
able through other sources to call for its presentation in this 
connection. Of course, the best means of drainage are well- 
burned drain tiles of a size corresponding to the amount of 
water to be carried. Such tiles are now manufactured in this 
State with the aid of the latest improved machinery. When 
the planter is distant from tile factories, or wishes, for economy's 
sake, to use other materials, it is quite possible to make drains 
to serve a temporary purpose at least in this way: Flat stones 



jMole Drains. 



221 



may be placed in the bottom of the trench so as to give a 
waterway; poles saved from clearing may be laid along in the 
trench, two at the bottom, a little way apart, and the third placed 
on top so as to cover the opening; redwood boards, four to six 
inches wide, nailed together trough fashion, and then inverted on 
the bottom of the ditch — many such contrivances will drain the 
land, and will operate until filled by silt or plugged by ground 
pests. Even a trench filled with cobbles up to near the flow line, 
and then covered with brush and soil, will give egress to water; 
and even brush alone, if stones are not handy, will act for some 
time. There is abundant field for ingenuity, and if the main 
drains are placed in the lowest places and the laterals run about 
forty to fifty feet apart, and sunk, as a rule, about three and a 
half feet deep, there will usually be a quick removal of surplus 
water, providing the drains are run, as they should be, with a 
perfectly uniform grade along the bottom line irrespective of the 
surface conformation. 

Mole Drains. — Where 
■-:">.- |f^ it is not feasible to put in per- 
manent drains at once, the 
JM' old practice of mole draining 
^ serves a good temporary pur- 
pose, and is used to some 
extent by growers of small 
fruits. The mole drain needs 
a soil of some adhesiveness 
to be successful in its work. 
Mole drains may be made 
in this way:* 
Take a plow-beam with handles; run down through the beam a bar of iron three 
and a half inches in width by five-eighths of an inch in thickness. This extends 
down from twelve to fifteen inches, and is to be raised or lowered at pleasure by bolts 
running through both beam and bar. To the lower end of the bar is fastened, by a 
link, a mole made of cast-iron, well polished, about fifteen inches in length and 
tapering from three and a half inches at the large and rear end to a point at the fore 
end where fastened to the link. 

To use the mole, dig down with a spade to proper depth, insert bar and mole, 
hitch two horses and run the mole in any direction desired, say up and down the 
garden six to eight feet apart. The mole dragging after the bar, opening the earth, 
presses the loose soil upward into the track of the bar above the mole, leaving a good 
open hole for irrigation or drainage purposes. 

This is found to be of great practical advantage in the growing of such crops as 
strawberries, onions, and the like. The ground thus treated does not sun-dry and 
crack, as when in irrigation the water is allowed to run on the surface. It renders 
unnecessary the cultivation usually resorted to after irrigation. 

The mole drains, of course, only give drainage to a shallow 
layer of soil, and cannot, therefore, take the place of deeper con- 
duits which are needed in orchard and vineyard. 

*E. Leedham, Arroyo Grande, in Rural Press. 




Drains Made with Tile, Stones 
AND Boards. 



222 Drainage atid Alkali. 

Drainage and Irrigation. — A special importance attaches 
to complete and systematic drainage in connection with irriga- 
tion. There is pressing need of such provision where the soil 
has become overloaded by seepage water from irrigation ditches, 
and it is well that people in such situations are waking up to the 
need of coupling drainage outlets with their irrigation inlets. 
Another matter closely allied to this is the action of alkali on 
soils thus artificially water-soaked. This has been made the 
subject of a special publication by Professor Hilgard, to which 
allusion has already been made. Drainage is plainly essential, 
both in individual farms and in districts where the water level is 
rising too high, and the striking statements given in Professor 
Hilgard's report will incite all to insist that immediate attention 
be given to the needs of the State in this regard. 



Part Third: Orchard Fruits. 

CHAPTER XXl. 

THE APPLE. 

The apple has had a hard course to run in California, nor 
has it yet attained the place in the mind of the tree planter to 
which it is entitled. During the first decade more failures than 
successes were reported by those whose enterprise led them to 
import large collections of the best varieties from the Eastern 
States and Western Europe. Growers were naturally perplexed 
to find late winter varieties ripening in the autumn and quickly 
going to decay, as many of them did. Finding so many East- 
ern varieties with this behavior, collections were brought in from 
the Southern States for trial. With these also there were many 
disappointments. Hope in the apple, however, revived when it 
was found that a few varieties did show good keeping qualities, 
but sank again when these trusted sorts, though succeeding in 
some localities, failed in others, and so much confusion resulted 
in the popular mind that the verdict went forth that California 
was not adapted to the growth of good apples. Even to this 
day some may be found who will maintain such a view. The 
well-informed, however, believed otherwise, and even before the 
wonderfully satisfactory test of both Northern and Southern 
California apples at the New Orleans World's Fair, they had 
concluded that the right variety grown in the right place, yields 
an apple in California than which a better cannot be grown 
anywhere. 

One of the most obvious characteristics of California apples 
is large size. At one time it was almost conceded that this 
size was attained at the expense of all good qualities, and that 
the California apple was a coarse, dry, tasteless, and short-lived 
fruit. This conclusion was based upon fruit grown in localities 
not suited for the development of the good points of an apple, 
or by excessive use of irrigation water. More recently we are 
growing apples which far exceed the Eastern standards of size, 
and are at the same time possessed of the finest interior quali- 



224 



California and Eastern Apples. 



ties. The en^^ravings adjacent show the outHne of the Tomp- 
kins County King, as grown in Sonoma County, surrounding 
the outHne of the same variety grown in New York, as given by 
Downing. Both are supposed to be merely good-sized, and not 
extraordinary specimens. 




The Tompkins County King, of California and Eastern Growth. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE APPLE. 
Speaking generally, it may be laid down that the great 
valleys of the interior are not well suited to the apple. Of 
course some varieties will do well enough to warrant planting 
them in family orchards, or for local sale, and in the early re- 
gions of the Sacramento Valley and foot-hills there is some profit 
in the better early varieties for shipment to the Territories, and 
beyond, as will be shown, but this demand would not call for 
large planting. In the great valley and lower foot-hill region of 
the State, the apple usually lacks character and keeping quality. 
On the great plains it is liable to sunburn, or sunblight, as it is 
called. Some varieties, because of the character of their foliage, 



Localities for the Apple. 225 

are less liable to this injury than others, and it is possible that 
this evil may be finally overcome by the selection of varieties 
with blight-proof foliage, as will be mentioned later. In the 
great valley, however, on the rich river bottom land of the Sac- 
ramento, and the San Joaquin and its tributaries, the apple roots 
deeply, attains good size, bears good fruit, with fair keeping qual- 
ity, while but a few miles away on the plains it would be 
inferior. 

In the interior the region of adaptation to the apple lies at 
an elevation on the foot-hills, on both the east and west rims of 
the great valley. Its limits are not well defined, but there are 
flourishing orchards at an elevation of about four thousand five 
hundred feet on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountairs, 
and from two thousand to three thousand five hundred feet is 
commonly regarded the best apple region of the mountains. 
The trees attain large size and bear heavily, and the fruit, of well- 
adapted varieties, is large, crisp, and juicy, and has exceptional 
keeping qualities. 

Along the coast the apple succeeds well from end to end of 
the State. There is a certain advantage in elevation in the coast 
region as well as in the interior, but the advantage is not so 
marked nor is the required elevation so great. Coast valleys in 
the upper portion of the State, where the soil is suitable, produce 
most excellent apples, but even here the hillsides, with deep, 
well-drained soils, are, perhaps, preferable to the floors of the 
valley. As you depart from immediate coast influences and ap- 
proach the interior, with its greater heat and aridity, the greater 
elevation becomes desirable. The apple, exceptmg the very 
early varieties, does not relish the forcing heat which brings 
such perfection to the peach, but to insure it late ripening and 
long keeping, with accompanying crispness, juiciness, and flavor, 
it must have atmospheric surroundings which favor slower de- 
velopment. 

Localities for apple growing in Southern California are to 
be chosen with much the same rules as in the upper parts of the 
State. As has already been said, valleys in which coast condi- 
tions largely predominate produce good apples on suitable soils, 
but away from the roast proper, elevations must be sought, and 
they should be above the so-called thermal or frostless belts. 
Good apples are grown on low lands near the coast in Los An- 
geles County. Sixty miles inland, in San Bernardino County, 
winter apples fail in the valleys, but are most excellent at a suf- 
ficient elevation upon the slopes of the surrounding mountains. 

Second and Third-Crop Apples. — There is a peculiar 
behavior of the apple tree, most noticeable where winter 



226 Successive Crops in a Season. 

temperature is mildest, and that is blooming and fruiting out of 
season. The fact is made the basis of an argument that the 
climate is not suited for the apple, and that the tree needs a cold 
winter to secure it rest and normal blooming and bearing. 
However this may be, the attempts at bearing several crops in 
the year do not seem to seriously interfere with its growth nor 
fruiting. The following record* will serve as an illustration: — 

There is an apple tree in Dr. C. C. Hartington's yard, in this city, which has 
already produced two ripe crops this seascn, and has the third crop half grown at 
this time. They are beautiful red apples of a fine flavor. The first crop ripened by 
the first of July. The tree, being large and prolific in its bearing, supplied the doc- 
tor's family and others in the neighborhood with apples for some time. After the 
first crop was gathered the tree again blossomed, and the result of those blossoms is 
now being gathered. The third set of blossoms came on when the second crop was 
half grown. 

This is not an isolated case, but double crops of apples are 
not of amount nor regularity enough to be of any great economic 
importance, as are the second crops of table and raisin grapes. 
The third crop sometimes ripens. Dr. H. C. Dimock brought 
to the editor of the Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Record, on January 
9, 1886, "a handsome, well-matured apple of the Skinner seed- 
ling variety, eleven and a half inches in circumference, and a 
stem bearing six large, fine Siberian crab-apples. Both varieties 
of apples are samples of the third crop grown since last 
summer." 

This behavior of the apple is most frequent during mild 
winters. Though some approve it, as has been stated, others 
consider it a decided objection. D. F. Nevvsom writes that in 
the Arroyo Grande valley, apples do splendidly, but in the thermal 
belt in the hills are very poor, because the temperature is so 
mild that they bloom and bear all the year round. 

EXPOSURES FOR THE APPLE. 

The choice of exposure for an apple orchard may almost 
be inferred from what has been said about localities. In regions 
with high summer temperature the apple will do best on cool, 
northerly slopes, and this exposure becomes doubly desirable 
when the location has high temperature with only moderate an- 
nual rainfall, or where the soil is not well adapted to the reten- 
tion of moisture. With such prevailing conditions, the apple 
will be grateful for the cooler air and the greater moisture of 
the northerly slope. "Where the temperature is moderately 
cool, and the rainfall adequate, the matter of exposure is of less 



''Marj-sville Appeal, December 5, iS 



Exposure and Soils. 227 

account, and the grower can make the existence of the best 
soil the test of location of his orchard. At elevations on the 
sides of high ranges where late cold storms are liable to rush 
down from higher snow-fields, protection from the usual course 
of such storms, or from the course of cold winds generally, must 
be sought; and directly upon the coast, especially in the north- 
ern part of the State, in certain places where the peach does not 
usually succeed, even the apple may need protection, and the 
benefit of all heat available, and then a southerly or south- 
easterly exposure becomes desirable. The choice of exposure 
is thus seen to be largely a local question and to be determined 
by a knowledge of local conditions. A new-comer in a region can 
best learn these conditions by conference with older residents, 
or by personal observation of older orchards. 

SOILS FOR THE APPLE. 

Experience with the apple in California confirms what has 
long been set forth as its choice of soils in older regions. If 
one avoid an extremely light, sandy soil on the one hand, and a 
very stiff clay or adobe on the other, he may plant apples on 
almost any soil which allows extension of the roots to a con- 
siderable depth without reaching standing water. The apple 
thrives in a moist soil, but it must be well drained, naturally 
or otherwise. A soil which may be called best for the apple is 
a deep, rich, moist, calcareous loam, but the tree will thrive on 
coarser materials. A comparatively shallow soil, even clay un- 
derlaid by gravel, has been shown to be good, and it is claimed 
that an apple root as thick as a man's wrist has been found 
twenty-eight feet below the surface in a gravel subsoil in this 
State. A subsoil of loose rock has also supported good apple 
trees, and the roots have taken wide lateral extension instead 
of depth. There seems, however, to be no exception to the rule 
that the subsoil, whatever its nature, must be sound and open 
to the passage of moisture. The most unfavorable condition 
for the tree is a subsoil of clay which holds water. 

PLANTING AND CARE OF THE APPLE ORCHARD. 

The chapters on propagation, planting, and pruning, con- 
tain suggestions to which the reader is referred. Care should 
be taken to obtain trees with clean, healthy roots, not knotted 
and scarred by woolly aphis. 

Distance in Planting. — The distance between the trees 
is of the highest importance. All the old apple orchards which 



228 Distance in Apple Orchards. 

the writer has seen in California are overcrowded. It was the 
practice to plant even standard trees twelve, fourteen, and six- 
teen feet apart, and where alternate rows have not been cut out, 
the most severe cutting-back has not prevented the branches 
from interlacing. The overcrowding has resulted in stunted, 
gnarly, and, probably, short-lived trees. More recently trees 
have been set at greater distances, and such planting is now 
generally advised. There is some difference of opinion as to 
proper distance, but certainly twenty-five to thirty feet is near 
enough for the apple. Senator De Long, of Marin County, 
who owns one of the most celebrated apple orchards of the 
State, planted by his father in early days, has had full opportu- 
nity to judge of the disadvantage of close planting, and advises 
that apples be planted thirty-six feet apart, with apricots, or 
some other early bearing trees for which the soil is suited, be- 
tween them, on the quincunx plan. The apples will not, as a 
rule, bear a paying crop, in his locality, until they are seven 
years old, while the other fruits will bear well the fourth year, 
and the trees will not seriously interfere until the apples are 
fifteen years old, and then the center trees can be cleared out 
and the full space given to the apples. In some parts of the 
State the trees will attain size much sooner than this. It is an 
open question with growers whether it is better to do this inter- 
planting or to set the apples at twenty-five to thirty feet apart, 
and give them the whole ground. 

Pruning the Apple. — The manner of shaping fruit trees, 
described in the chapter on pruning, succeeds admirably with 
the apple. Yearling trees are usually planted, and they are 
headed back to eighteen, twenty, or twenty-four inches, as the 
grower chooses. When the higher length is given the stem, a 
branch should be allowed to issue as low as twelve inches from 
the ground, and the others at about equal distances apart above 
them. Of course they should be on different sides, so as to 
balance the head evenly around the stem. These branches 
should all take an obliquely upward direction, and this can be 
promoted at the winter pruning after the first year's growth, by 
cutting to an inside bud all varieties which naturally take a hori- 
zontal direction, like the Rhode Island Greening, and cutting to 
an outside bud varieties which have a tendency to send up tall, 
straight shoots, like the Yellow Newtown Pippin, and others. 
By thus throwing the new growth upward in the first case, and 
outward in the second, you can shape each kind to greater sym- 
metry and strength for fruit carrying, and bring up all spreading 
varieties to a form which admits near approach of the plow and 



I 



Pruning the Apple. 



229 




cultivator. This manner of shaping the tree must continue as 
long as seems necessary to secure the desired result. 

The engraving given 
herewith is from a pho- 
tograph of two young 
trees in the writer's gar- 
den at Berkeley. The 
nearest tree is the Rhode 
Island Greening, which 
was pruned to upper 
buds to overcome its 
spreading habit, and the 
growth was thus made 
upright. As the marks 
for next pruning show, 
it is intended to cut next 
time to an outside bud to 
throw the branches out- 
ward again. The other 
tree is the Esopus Spitz- 
enburg, an upright 
grower, which must be 
spread by cutting to 
outside buds. The 
grower must study every 
variety he has, and prune 
accordingly. 
Age of Trees. — Apple trees which have been properly 
cut back in the nursery at the end of the first year's growth, 
may be planted out to good advantage, as two-year-olds, and 
even three-year-olds, properly pruned in nursery, may be used. 
These old trees, howev^er, can only be safely commended to those 
who propose to take extra good care of their trees, as in the 
planting of village fruit gardens. For regular orchard planting, 
yearling trees are best. 

All that has been said in the chapter on pruning of the ad- 
vantages of low-heading, applies with full force to the apple 
tree. If the tree is thus started right, branches enough allowed 
to grow to balance the head well, but not to crowd each other, 
and these branches well cut back to throw out good laterals and 
to strengthen themselves, you will get a tree which will come to 
bearing age shapely and strong, and within reach. After such 
a tree begins to bear there is usually little to do, except to 
shorten in when the growth is excessive. This depends much 
upon variety. So long as branches several feet in length are 




Rhode Island Greening and Esopus Spitzen- 

burg — showing manner of growth 

and pruning. 



230 Picking for Shipment or Long Keeping. 

thrown out, there must be shortening in practiced, or else, even 
a tree which was started well, may run off into long streaming 
branches which cannot hold up their fruit. Probably the best- 
behaved apple tree, and one of those best adapted to California 
conditions, is the White Winter Pearmain. It usually requires 
ver\' little cutting after its shape has been formed. The Yellow 
Newtown Pippin, also one of the best apples for this State re- 
quires constant watchfulness to check its streaming tendency. 
By watching these two sorts, as extremes, the grower will soon 
learn how to handle other varieties. 

In regions of the most intense summer heat, less pruning 
is admissible than in the coast and elevated regions. It is nec- 
essary that the foliage be dense to protect the tree and the fruit 
from sunburn. Nor does the tree seem to relish cutting back. 
Slight thinning out, if the tree becomes too brushy, seems to be 
the best treatment in some of the hot valleys. 

Thinning the Fruit. — One of the most important items 
in the handling of an apple orchard is the faithful thinning out 
of the fruit of all varieties which are prone to overbear. Al- 
though this work is tedious and expensive, it is profitable, because 
of the improved price which can be had for the larger fruit 
which will be secured, and it is desirable in the effects of thin- 
ning on the tree. It will be relieved from the exhaustion of 
overbearing, induced to yield annual crops, and often saved from 
breaking down with a too heavy burden. 

GATHERING AND STORING APPLE.S. 

The disposition in this State, as elsewhere, is to allow the 
fruit to hang too long upon the tree before gathering. It was 
long ago demonstrated that an apple for long keeping must be 
picked early. As late fall weather in California is so delightful, 
there is more temptation to delay the picking than where the 
approach of winter admonishes the grower to get his fruit under 
cover. Mr. De Long, who has had much experience in keeping 
apples, and in shipping them to Australia, says that picking 
apples for shipment should be done just when the seeds begin 
to blacken and when the fruit yields to pressure. If left on until 
fully ripe, and the seeds all black, it will not keep. This rule 
applies to fall apples for shipment to distant markets, or for 
apples to be stored at home. 

Nearly all the ways of keeping winter apples have been 
tried in California. The tendency to shrivel towards spring has 
been overcome by embedding in gypsum, sand, and other ma- 
terials. It has also been found by experience that apples keep 



Storing and Marketing, 231 

perfectly until late in the spring by piling under the trees and 
covering with leaves, etc., allowing the rains to fall upon them. 
They come out from the cover, fresh, smooth, and plump, and 
for family use such rough storage will often answer a good pur- 
pose. For commercial storage, however, good fruit-houses are 
used. The requisites of such houses are an evenly cool tem- 
perature, and good ventilation, the fruit being open to free ac- 
cess of the air. A fruit-house for apples, described by Milton 
Thomas in an essay at a meeting of the Los Angeles Pomolog- 
ical Society, in 1886, may serve as a model for such structures: 
"The best apple- house should be built with double walls, twelve 
inches apart, and this space should be filled and packed well 
with straw. Then there should be a double roof, twelve inches 
apart, on the same general plan as the sides. Then double 
doors, and use every precaution to keep the house cool as pos- 
sible. Then place the apples on shelves or in apple-boxes. 
Have ventilators to use at night." 

Of course, in selecting apples for storage, all windfalls 
should be rejected. The fruit should be carefully picked and 
handled, without bruising. The advantage of spreading on 
shelves, aside from the free admission of air, is the ease with 
which the fruit can be examined and all decaying specimens 
removed. 

Marketing Apples. — With well-grown fruit, from an 
orchard free from insects, or one in which they are resolutely re- 
pressed, and the apples properly stored for winter and spring 
sale, there is a rich reward for the apple grower. The market 
is free from everything but late pears and citrus fruits, and they 
cannot replace the apple in popular esteem. Let the fruit be 
carefully selected and graded into firsts and seconds as to size, 
and let the brand get the reputation of covering nothing but 
sound fruit of honest uniformity throughout the package, and 
in the long run the apple grower will not be ashamed to com- 
pare his returns with those of the grower of other fruits — pro- 
viding, as we have already intimated, he is growing the right 
varieties in the right place. 

THE APPLE SCAB OR SMUT. 

In the coast region, for many years, some varieties of the 
apple have been afflicted with a disease which causes unsightly 
blotches on the fruit, and blights the leaves. W. G. Klee, State 
Inspector of Fruit Pests, while Superintendent of the Univer- 
sity Orchard in Berkeley, gave much attention to the subject, 
and found that the smut of the pear was due to the same agency 



2\. 



The Apple Scab or Blight. 



as the scab of the apple, the growth of a fungus known as 
fusidadmni de]itriticum. The accompanying engravings are 
from a bulletin on the subject issued by Mr. Klee.* They show 
the work of the fungus on a White Winter Pearmain: a, the 
fruit in its natural size; b, a blotch enlarged; both show plainly 
the rapid spread of the fungus destroying the tissue of the ap- 
ple The center is black with millions of growing spores; the cir- 
cumference still shows the rem- 
nant of the epidermis. In his 
experiments in the University 
orchard, Mr. Klee found a wash 
suggested by Professor Hilgard, 





very effective, 
as follows: — 



Smut or Scab of the Atple. 
Its composition and method of application is 



Dissolve thirty pounds of whale-oil sojp (eis;hty per cent soap, at the most costing 
five cents a pound) in sixty gallons of water, by heating the two together thoroughly 
Then boil three pounds of American concentrated lye with six pounds of sulphur 
and a couple of gallons of water. When thoroughly dissolved it is a dark brow n 
liquid, chemically called sulphide of soda. Mix the two— the soap and the sulphide 
— well, and allow them to boil for half an hour. Then add about ninety gallons of 
water to the mixture, and it is ready for use. Apply it warm, by means of a spray 
pump. Used warm, its effect is better and less material is required than when cold. 

SELECTING VARIETIES. 

For the family orchard there should be a selection of quite 
a number of varieties, ripening in succession, from the earliest 
to the latest. Which are best in the different parts of the State 
can be approximately determined from the tabular statement 
which will follow, and which has been compiled from the expe- 
rience of hundreds of apple growers. 

The selection of varieties for a commercial orchard is a 
very different proposition. Only a few kinds should be chosen, 
with special reference to their growth and bearing, and the mar- 
kets for which they are intended. 



*"Rep. Gal. State Board Hort.,'' 1887, p. 408. 



The Best Apples to Plant. 233 

Summer and Fall Apples. — In some regions noted for 
early maturing of fruit, it is profitable to grow a certain quan- 
tity of early apples, providing there are facilities for reaching 
profitable avenues of trade. For example, early and fall apples 
are profitable in the Sacramento Valley, and on the foot-hills up 
as high as Colfax. A profitable apple in the Sacramento Valley 
is the White Astracan, which can be shipped early as far east as 
Omaha. Alexander, Skinner's Seedling, and Gravenstein also 
do well for this trade, the first two being best. In June as high 
as $L40 per forty-pound box was paid in 1887, in Marysville, 
for White Astracan, to ship East, and from $1.00 to $1.50 has 
been paid for such fruit for the last six years. This demand 
may be limited, but present shipments can, doubtless, be largely 
increased.* 

Except to minister to some special local or distant trade 
which can be thus foreseen, it must be said that early summer 
and fall apples are hardly worth the attention of the commer- 
cial planter. These sorts are apt to come into direct contest 
with the magnificent peaches, grapes, and other summer and 
auunm fruits, and suffer thereby. In San Francisco this is 
notably the case, but as the State is filling up, and many inte- 
rior towns offering local markets for fruit, the planter may often 
profitably sell a {&\\ early apples for near-by consumption. 

Winter Apples. — For large ventures in apple growing, 
in localities carefully chosen for especial adaptations, a few of 
the finest varieties of winter apples should be selected. These, 
as reported from the different counties, can be learned from the 
table. It is the judgment of the most experienced apple 
growers, many of whom have old orchards including many vari- 
eties, that new plantations of winter apples should contain only 
about six sorts. Of these, in all parts of the State, three would 
be the Yellow Newtown Pippin, White Winter Pearmain, and 
Yellow Bell Flower; the other half of the half dozen would be 
differently made up in different parts of the State. 

Apples for Southern California. — The Southern 
California Nurserymen's Association, in November, 1886, named 
the following selection as succeeding in the southern counties, 
and giving a succession of apples from July to March: Early 
Harvest, Red Astracan, Fall Pippin, Skinner's Seedling, Graven- 
stein, Rhode Island Greening, Yellow Newtown Pippin, White 
Winter Pearmain, Yellow Bell Flower, Ben Davis, and Jonathan. 
The whole list gives the succession for family orchards, but only 
the last five are commended for commercial orchards. 

*Robert Williamson, at meeting of State Horticultural Society. 



234 Apples for Export. 

Apples for Long Shipment by Sea. — There has been 
for years quite an important trade in shipment of Cahfornia ap- 
ples to various ports in the South Pacific Ocean, and recently 
there has been receipts of very good apples from Australia, 
in this State. As the regions are in the northern and 
southern hemispheres, their seasons are opposite, and there 
seems an opportunity for profitable exchange of fruits which 
will endure long shipment. A large proportion of the apples 
shipped from California for South Pacific ports have been 
packed in the De Long orchard, in Marin County. As to the 
carrying qualities of the different varieties, Hon. F. C. De Long 
gives the following as the result of his experience: But few va- 
rieties are safe to ship. The Yellow Newtown Pippin is best, 
the red-cheeked Pippin (Monmouth Pippin) is good, so are 
Esopus Spitzenberg, Smith's Cider, Winesap, Swaar, Northern 
Spy, Jonathan, White Winter Pearmain, and the Roxbury 
Russet if it can be shipped immediately, but it cannot be held 
for future shipment. The Summer Pearmain and the Graven- 
stein are not satisfactory. Mr. De Long's idea of the proper 
condition at picking has already been cited. 

For the Interior Valleys. — In choosing varieties for 
the hot valleys of the State those making a heavy leaf growth 
are to be preferred. The Spitzenberg, for example, is a failure 
in the valleys of the interior. From experience already had it 
seems likely that some of the Russian varieties, with thick, 
large leaves, will prove best for such situations. Prof J. L. 
Budd, of the Agricultural College of Iowa, who has given 
great attention to the structure and behavior of the Russian 
fruits, believes that the same characteristics of growth which 
give them hardiness in the Northwest will also sustain them in 
the extreme heat of the interior of California. This must be 
demonstrated by actual experience, but the behavior of the As- 
tracans, the Duchess of Oldenburgh, and others of Russian ori- 
gin, seems to indicate truth in the surmise. Rev. Mr. Loop, of 
Pomona, who has tried many varieties of the apple, pronounces 
the "Polo," a Russian sort, the best he grows. 

The Survival of the Fittest. — It would be interesting 
to review the peculiar behavior which certain varieties have ex- 
hibited under different conditions in this State, but the results 
would not be practically important enough to warrant it. The 
lists which will be presented, as approved varieties in different 
parts of the State, will mark the survival of the fittest. It is 
easy now, profiting by the experience of the last thirty years, 
to choose a list of varieties, made up of some of the best old 



Apples CJiiefly Grozvn in Califoriiia. 235 

standard varieties, together with s )rne seedh'ngs of Cah'fornia 
origin, which will give very satisfactory results in any place 
where the local conditions are fitted to the apple. 

The Price of Success. — Even before the question of va- 
rieties and locations was as well understood as now, another 
perple.xity arose before the apple grower, in the form of the 
codlin moth, which was, probably, introduced in larval form 
with some fruit brought from several Eastern States in 1871, 
for exhibition at our State Fair, in comparison with Cali- 
fornia fruit. The spread of this pest to nearly all parts of the 
State, and the rapidity of its increase, owing to our favorable 
climate, has brought dismay to many apple growers, and has led 
to the cutting out of some orchards, where the owners preferred 
to introduce some other fruit than to fight the worm. 

These very difficulties, however, if rightly appreciated and 
met, will prove the key to profit in the growth of the apple. 
To choose the best location for good late-keeping apples, to 
plant the best varieties, and to protect them from insects, as can 
be done if one will take the pains to follow the instructions 
which will be given in another chapter, must be regarded as 
quite as promising a venture in the long run as can be made in 
California fruit growing. 

VARIETIES CHIEFLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

Of the hundreds of varieties of apples tested in California, 
comparatively few are now grown, as has already been suggested. 
Those named below have been reported by growers as succeed- 
ing in the localities named with the description, or indicated in 
the table which will follow. The descriptions of the stand- 
ard sorts are, in the main, condensed from Downing,* with 
local notes interpolated when thought necessary. The arrange- 
ment is, approximately, in the order of ripening. 

Yellow June. — (Southern.) Below medium, roundish; pale yellow, thickly 
sprinkled with green and brown dots; stalk long, slender; core small; flesh white, 
tender, sprightly sub-acid. Approved in Tehama County. 

Carolina Red June. — (Southern.) Medium size, oval, irregular, inclined to 
conic; deep red covered with light bloom; stalk in small cavity; calyx closed; flesh 
white, tender, juicy, subacid; core rather large. (See table.) 

White JuNEATiNG; syn. JenneUing, Gennetting, ttc.—SmzW, round, a little 
flattened, calyx closed; stalk rather long and slender; pale green, changing to yellow, 
sometimes with faint blush, crisp and pleasant. Approved in Humboldt and Mendo- 
cino Counties. 



*"Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees of America." John Wiley & Sons, New York; edition 
of 1886. 



2 30 Leading Varieties in California. 

Early Harvest. — (American.) Medim size, roundish; straw color, with few 
faint white dots; stalk half to three-fourths inch, slender, set in moderate cavity; calyx 
in shallow basin; flesh very white, tender, crisp, pleasant. (See table.) 

Early Strawberry. — (New York.) Medium size, roundish, narrowing 
towards the eye; skin smooth, deep red on yellow ground; stalk one and a half inches, 
rather slender and uneven, in deep cavity; calyx small, in shallow basin; flesh white, 
tinged with red next the skin, tender, subacid, sprightly. (See table.) 

Large Early Bough; syn. Sweetbough . — (American.) Large, oblong ovate, 
smooth; pale, greenish yellow; stalk rather long; eye narrow and deep; flesh white, 
tender and crisp, with rich, sweet flavor; young shoots grayish brown, very slightly 
downy. Approved in Santa Barbara County. 

Summer Queen. — Large, broad at top, and tapering towards the eye; stalk 
long, in deep cavity; calyx but little sunk; skin deep yellow, striped and clouded 
with red; flesh yellow; aromatic. (See table.) 

Red Astracan. — (Russian.) Large, roundish; skin deep red, save greenish 
yellow in the shade; pale white bloom; stalk short, and deeply inserted; calyx par- 
tially closed and set in slight basin; flesh white, juicy, crisp, pleasant acid; tree hardy 
and vigorous, and an early bearer. The main reliance in California for an early 
apple. (See table.) 

_ White Astracan. — (Russian.) Large, roundish; skin smooth and nearly 
^yhite, with faint streaks of red, and covered with white bloom; flesh white. Con- 
siderably grown in the Sacramento Valley, for early shipment. 

Lyman's Large Summer.— (American.) Large, roundish, flattened at the 
ends; skin smooth, pale yellow; flesh yellow, tender, subacid. Approved in Santa 
Cruz County. 

Early Joe. — (New York. ) Medium size, oblate, smooth, yellowish, shaded and 
striped with red, and thickly sprinkled with greenish spots; stalk medium, in large 
cavity; calyx closed; flesh whitfsh, tender, juicy, vinous. Approved in Mendocino 
County. 

Duchess of Oldenburg. — (Russian.) Large, roundish, oblate; yellow, 
streaked with red; calyx large, nearly closed, set in wide, even hollow; flesh juicy, 
subacid. Approved in Monterey and Los Angeles Counties. 

Gravenstein. — (German.) Large, rather flattened; a little one-sided or angu- 
lar; broadest at the base; stalk short, strong, deeply set; calyx large, closed, in a 
large basin; skin yellow, freely marked with light and deep red and orange; flesh 
tender, crisp, high-flavored, aromatic; a strong growing and heavily bearing tree; a 
standard fall apple in this State; not approved for higher Sierra district. ( See table. ) 

Keswick Codlin. — (English.) Large, rather conical, with few obscure ribs; 
stalk short and deeply set; calyx rather large; greenish yellow with faint blush; flesh 
yellowish white, juicy, pleasant acid. Approved in Mendocino and Contra Costa 
Counties. 

Porter. — (Massachusetts.) Rather large, regular, oblong, tapering to the eye; 
clear, bright yellow, with dull blush; calyx closed, and set iu narrow, deep basin: 
stalkrather slender, less than three-fourths inch long; flesh finegrained, juicy, aromatic, 
subacid. (See table.) 

Red Bietigheimer.— (German.) Large to very large, oblate, slightly conical, 
regular; smooth, whitish, or yellowish white, shaded with light and dark red and 
purplish crimson in the sun; stalk short, rather stout; calyx closed in large, deep, 
slightly corrugated basin; flesh white, firm, juicy, brisk subacid; lately introduced. 
Approved in Sonoma County. 



Leading Varieties in California. 237 

Golden Sweet. — (Connecticut.) Large, roundish, pale yellow; stalk about 
one inch, slender at the base; calyx closed, in basin of moderate depth; flesh tender, 
sweet, and rich. (See table.) 

American Summer Pearmain. — Medium to large, oblong; yellow and red in 
spots and stripes; stalk three-fourths inch, pretty deeply inserted; calyx closed and 
deeply sunk; flesh yellow, tender. ("A rich, highly flavored fruit, ripening gradually 
for a period of six weeks." — John Rock.) Approved in Napa, Alameda, and Placer 
Counties. 

Maiden's Rlush. — (New Jersey.) Rather large, smooth, regular; yellow, 
with evenly shaded red cheek; stalk short, in rather wide, deep hollow; calyx closed 
in moderate depression; flesh white, tender, sprightly. (See table.) 

President. — (New Hampshire.) Large, roundish, pale yellow, tinge of red 
in the sun, and few gray dots. Approved in Del Norte County. 

Holland Pippin. — Very large, roundish; stalk half inch, deeply sunk; calyx 
small, closed, moderately sunk; greenish yellow, becoming pale yellow with slight 
brownish blush and a few scattered, large, greenish dots. ("One of the best apples 
of the season." — James Shinn. ) (See table.) 

Spice Sweet. — Medium sized, pale yellow; flesh firm, sweet, very aromatic. 
Approved in Humboldt and Sierra Counties. 

Chenango Strawberry.— (New York.) Medium, oblong conic, indistinctly 
ribbed; whitish, shaded, splashed, and mottled with light and dark crimson; light 
dots; stalk rather short and small; calyx closed or partially open; flesh white, tender, 
mild subacid. Approved in Humboldt County. 

Washington Strawberry.— (New York.) Large, roundish conical, flattened 
at base; yellow, shaded, splashed and mottled with red; stalk short; calyx closed in 
a basin, deep, abrupt, and furrowed; flesh yellow, crisp, tender, subacid. Approved 
in Mendocino, Alameda and Santa Cruz Counties. 

Fall Wine. — Medium to large; red stripes and shading on light ground, with 
numerous russet dots; stem long, slender, in broad, deep cavity; calyx partly closed, 
in deep, broad, corrugated basin; flesh yellowish, juicy, tender, rich, aromatic, very 
mild subacid. Approved in Napa and Alameda Counties. 

Fall Pippin. — Very large, roundish, a little flattened; stalk three-fourths inch, 
projecting considerably beyond the fruit (which distinguishes it from Holland Pippin); 
calyx open, not very large, rather deeply sunk in round, narrow basin; skin smooth, 
yellowish green, becoming pure yellow; brownish blush and few scattered dots; flesh 
white, tender, mellow, rich, aromatic. (See table.) 

Alexander. — (Russian. ) Very large, showy, conical, greenish yellow, streaked 
with red in shade, bright red in the sun; calyx large, in deep basin; stalk slender, 
long, in deep cavity; flesh yellowish white, crisp, tender, and juicy. Tree vigorous, 
but not always a good bearer. (See table.) 

Golden Russet.— (English.) Medium size, roundish; skin rough, yellow; 
mostly covered with dull russet, with bronzed cheek in the sun; stalk short, .small, 
calyx closed; flesh whitish yellow, fine grained, compact, sprightly, mild subacid. 
(See table.) 

Smokehouse.— (Pennsylvania. ) Large, roundish oblate; yellow shaded and 
splashed with crimson, wifh large gray and brown dots; stalk rather long, curved, in 
broad cavity; calyx closed, in wide basin; flesh yellowish, crisp, juicy, rich subacid. 
Approved in Alameda and San Luis Obispo Counties. 

Nonsuch (Hubbardston.)— Large, roundish; smooth, yellowish, splashes and 
broken irregular stripes of red; calyx open; stalk short; flesh juicy, tender, sweet, 
and rich; tree a vigorous grower, but held to be small in bearing in some localities. 

(See table.) 



2 5^ Leading Varieties in California. 

Beauty of Kent.— (English.) Very large, roundish, but flat at base; green- 
ish yellow with large broken stripes of purplish red; stalk short, slender; calyx 
small; juicy, crisp, tender, subacid. Approved in Lake County. 

Twenty Ounce; syn. Caytiga Red Streak— [^^^^ York.) Very large, round- 
ish, slightly uneven; greenish yellow, boldly splashed and marbled with purplish red; 
stalk short, in wide, deep cavity; calyx small; flesh rather coarse, but brisk, sprightly, 
subacid flavor. (See table.) 

Late Strawberry; syn. Atdumn • Strawberry. ~{'Ht\i York.) Medium, 
roundish; whitish, striped and splashed with light and dark red; stalk rather long,' 
slender, curved; flesh yellowish white, tender, juicy, vinous; tree vigorous and pro- 
ductive. Approved in Alameda, Santa Clara and Yuba Counties. 

Gloria Mundi.— Very large, roundish, oblate; ribbed; greenish yellow. A 
popular show apple on account of great size attained in this State. (See table.)' 

Fameuse; syn. .Twow ^///^— (Canada.) Medium size, roundish, somewhat 
flattened; deep crimson, nearly concealing pale yellowish ground; flesh snowy white, 
tender, juicy, slight perfume; stalk slender, one-half inch, in narrow, funnel-shaped 
cavity; calyx small, in shallow, rather narrow basin; "tree vigorous, with dark wood; 

one of the finest dessert fruits; succeeds particularly well in the foot-hills." John 

Bidwell. (See table.) 

King of Tompkins County.— Large, globular, angular, inclining to conic, 
yellowish, mostly shaded with red, striped and splashed with crimson; stalk short 
and stout, in large, somewhat irregular cavity; calyx small, closed; flesh yellowish, 
rich, juicy, vinous, aromatic. "Subject to water-core in some localities."— Tames 
Shinn. (See table.) 

Detroit Red.— Medium to large, roundish; bright crimson becoming dark 
purple; dotted and marbled with specks of fawn or sunny-side; flesh white, some- 
times stained with red to the core. Approved in Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo 
Counties. 

Rambo.— (Pennsylvania.) Medium to large, flat; yellowish white with pale 
yellow and red in the sun, with large, rough dots; stalk long, rather slender, curved, 
deeply set; calyx closed, in broad basin; flesh greenish white. Reported a failure in 
some counties. " This apple, so popular in the Eastern States, doesnot fully sustain 
Its high character on this coast."— James Shinn. (See table.) 

Roxbury Russet.— (Massachusetts.) Large, roundish, flattened, slightly 
angular; skin rough, greenish, more or less covered with russet; flesh greenish white, 
moderately juicy; stalk nearly three-fourths of an inch, rather slender, not deeply 
set; calyx closed. Reported a failure in some counties; ripens early and has poor 
keeping quality. (See table.) 

Ben Davis.— Large, roundish, sides often unequal; light red and deep red on 
yellowish ground; stalk medium, rather slender, in deep, narrow cavity; calyx par- 
tially open. Commended as a market apple by the Southern California Nursery- 
men s Association. (See table. ) 

Baldwin.— (Massachusetts.) Large, roundish, narrowing a little towards the 
eye; deep bright red over a yellow ground; few russet dots; calyx closed and set in 
narrow basin; stalk one-half to three-fourths inch, rather slender, set in deep, 
even cavity; flesh yellowish white, crisp, juicy, subacid. Best in northern and 
elevated regions; coloring varies greatly according to locality. (See table.) 

Hoover.— (South Carolina.) Large, roundish, slightly oblique; yellowish, 
mostly overspread with red, with conspicuous light dots; stalk rather long in large 
cavity; calyx open in furrowed basin; flesh yellowish, juicy, crisp, acid. (See table.) 



Leading Varieties in California. 239 

DucKETT. — (Southern.) Large, oblate, waxen yellow with crimson cheek; 
flesh white, tender, juicy, aromatic; tree a fair grower and healthy; commended in 
Alameda and Inyo Counties. 

^ ^ ^ Rhode Island Greening. — Large, roundish, a little flattened, pretty regular; 
dark green, becoming yellowish green; calyx small, woolly, closed, in shallow 
basin; stalk three-fourths inch, curved, thickest at the bottom; flesh yellow, fine 
grained, tender, crisp, juicy, aromatic, slightly acid; tree healthy and the variety 
widely popular. (See table. ) 

Bailey's Sweet. — (New York.) Large, roundish, conical; yellowish, shaded 
and striped with red; thickly sprinkled with minute|rlots; stalk short, small, in nar- 
row cavity; calyx small, closed; flesh white, mild, sweet flavor; approved in San 
Luis Obispo, Tulare and San Bernardino Counties. 

Monmouth Pippin; syn. lied Cheek Pippin. — (New Jersey.) Large, oblate, 
inclining to conic, slightly flattened at base and crown; pale yellow with blush and 
russet dots; stalk rather short, in large cavity; calyx partly closed in a deep basin; 
flesh juicy, brisk, subacid; approved in Sonoma, Contra Costa and San Bernardino 
Counties. 

Vandevere; syn. Neioto'um Spilzettburgh. — Medium size, oblate, slightly conic; 
fine yellow, washed with light red, striped and splashed with dark red, and shaded 
with carmine in the sun; light bloom and peculiar gray specks; stalk short, in wide 
cavity; calyx small, closed; flesh yellow, rich, sprightly, vinous. (See table.) 

Jonathan. — (New York.) Medium to large, roundish, conical or tapering to 
the eye; light yellow nearly covered with red stripes and deep red in the sun; stalk 
three-fourths of an inch, rather slender, in deep, regular cavity; calyx in deep, broad 
basin; tender, juicy, rich, vinous; a great favorite in California; specially commended 
as a market apple by Southern California Nurserymen's Association; keeps till mid- 
winter. (See table.) 

Winesap. — Medium size, roundish oblong; dark red with traces of yellow in 
the shade; stalk nearlj' an inch, slender, set in an irregular cavity; calyx small, in 
regular basin; flesh 3'ellow, crisp; high, rich flavor; largely grown; tree a good 
bearer. (See table.) 

Ortley; syn. White Bellftrwer, tic. — (New Jersey.) Large, oblong, greenish 
yellow, becoming fine yellow with slight blush; stalk medium, slender, set in deep, 
acute cavity; calyx closed, set in abrupt, corrugated basin; flesh white, fine-grained, 
juicy, subacid. Approved in Alameda, Santa Clara, Butte, Santa Barbara and 
San Bernardino Counties. 

Blue Pearmain. — Very large, roundish, very slightly conical; dark purplish 
red over dull ground, appearing bluish from white bloom; flesh yellowish, mild aro- 
matic. Approved in Siskiyou, Lake, Los Angeles and Mariposa Counties. 

Swaar. — (New York.) Large, roundish; golden yellow with numerous brown 
specks; stalk slender, three-fourths inch, in very round cavity; calyx small, greenish, 
set in shallow basin; flesh yellowish, fine-grained; very rich, aromatic flavor and 
spicy smell. See table.) 

Lawyer. — Large, roundish, oblate, dark red, covered with small dots; stalk 
medium, cavity deep, regular; calyx small, closed, in medium (urrowed basin; flesh 
white, sprightly, aromatic; a promising, late- keeping variety. Approved in Yuba 
and Santa Cruz Counties. 

Buckingham; syn. Equinetely. — Medium to large; oblate inclined to conic; 
greenish yellow, mostly covered, shaded, striped and splashed with red; many light 
brown dots; stalk short, cavity broad and deep; calyx closed; flesh j'ellowish, juicy, 
subacid. Approved in Alameda and Fresno Counties. 



240 Leading Varieties in California. 

Cooper's Market. — Medium, oblate conic, yellowish, shaded with red and 
striped with crimson; stalk short, in deep, narrow cavity; calyx closed in small basin; 
flesh white, tender, subacid. Approved in Inyo and Santa Cruz Counties. 

Red Canada; syn. Steeles Red Winter. — Medium to large, oblate, inclining to 
conic; yellow, shaded with deep red or crimson, and striped on sunny side; gray or 
greenish dots; stalk short, in broad, deep cavity; calyx closed; flesh white, tender, 
crisp and juicy. Approved in El Dorado, Santa Barbara and Inyo Counties. 

Yellow Bellflower. — (New Jersey.) Very large, oblong, irregular, tapering 
toward the eye; smooth, lemon color, with blush; stalk long and slender in deep 
cavity; calyx closed, in rather narrow basin; flesh tender, juicy, crisp, with sprightly, 
subacid flavor; keeps well into the winter; tree a strong grower and healthy; one of 
the universal favorities in California. (See table.) 

Golden Pearmain. — (English.) Medium, roundish, conical; yellow, orange in 
sun; flesh yellowish, firm, crisp, juicy, sweet. Approved in Tuolumne County. 

Grimes Golden Pippin. — (Virginia.) Medium to large, roundish oblatCf 
slightly conical; golden yellow; stalk rather short and slender; calyx closed or par- 
tially open, in an abrupt, uneven basin; flesh yellow, compact, crisp, rich and spicy, 
with peculiar aroma. Approved in Alameda, Contra Costa and Inyo Counties. 

Waxen. — (Virginia.) Medium, roundish, slightly oblate, pale yellow, oily, 
sprinkled with a few dots; stalk slender, in a deep cavity; calyx closed in shallow 
basin; flesh whitish yellow, crisp, tender, juicy, sprightly, mild subacid. Approved 
in Del Norte and Siskiyou Counties. 

Roman ite. — Small to medium, roundish conical, truncated; yellow, mostly 
covered with clear, handsome red; indistinct light dots; stalk slender; calyx in 
an abrupt basin; flesh yellowish, fine-grained, juicy, pleasant, subacid. (See table.) 

Autumn Pearmain. — Medium, roundish; brownish yellow with green on 
shaded side; reddish mixed with yellow and streaked with red on sunny side; numer- 
ous small brown specks; stalk short, obliquely set under a fleshy lip; calyx small, 
in broad, shallow basin; flesh pale yellow, crisp, firm, inclined to be dry, but rich- 
flavored. Approved in Siskiyou and Tuolumne Counties. 

Esopus Spitzenberg.— (New York.) Large, oblong, tapering roundly to the 
eye; smooth, nearly covered with rich, lively red, dotted with distinct yellowish 
russet dots; on shatled side, yellowish ground with streaks and broken stripes of red; 
stalk rather long; three-fourths inch, slender, projecting beyond the base and inserted 
in wide cavity; calyx small and closed, in shallow basin; flesh yellow, rather firm, 
crisp, juicy, with a delicious rich, brisk flavor. A largely grown variety; tree a good, 
upright grower and healthy; fruit keeps fairly. (See table.) 

Shockley — (Georgia). Medium, roundish conical, pale yellow overspread with 
red, inconspicuous minute dots; stalk long, slender, inserted in a deep acute cavity; 
calyx partly closed in shallow corrugated basin; flesh crisp, juicy, rich, vinous, pleas- 
ant. Approved in Fresno and Los Angeles Counties. 

Peck's Pleasant. — (Rhode Island.) Large, roundish, a littleribbed and slightly 
flattened; indistinct furrow on one side; smooth, clear yellow, with bright brownish 
blush; stalk peculiarly fleshy and flattened, short, and sunk in a wide, wavy cavity; 
calyx woolly, pretty deeply sunk; flesh yellowish, fine-grained, juicy, crisp and tender, 
deliciously aromatic, subacid. Approved in Del Norte, Napa and Inyo Counties. 

Smith's Cider. — (Pennsylvania.) Large, roundish, oblate conic; yellow, 
shaded and striped with red, sparsely covered with gray dots; stalk slender, in deep, 
rather narrow cavity; calyx closed, in broad, shallow basin; flesh whitish, juicy, 
crisp, acid; tree a strong grower, and fruit keeps till midwinter. " One of the best 
of our apples for cooking or eating."— James Shinn. (See table.) 



Leading Varieties i?i California. 241 

Limber Twig. — Medium to large, roundish oblate, inclined to conic; greenish 
yellow, shaded and striped with dull crimson, light dots; stalk medium, in broad, 
deep cavity; calyx closed, in small, uneven basin; flesh whitish, juicy, subacid. 
"Valuable for great productiveness, hardihood and long keeping." — John Rock. 
Approved in Mendocino, San Benito, Tulare, Yuba and Butte Counties. 

Rome Bfauty. — (Ohio.) Large, roundish, approaching conic; yellow, shaded 
and striped with bright red, sprinkled with light dots; stalk one inch, in large, deep 
cavity; calyx partially closed, in deep, narrow basin; flesh yellowish, juicy, sprightly; 
fruit keeps late. Approved in Alameda, Sonoma, Santa Barbara and Placer 
Counties. 

Nickajack. — (North Carolina.) Large, roundish to roundish oblate, slightly 
conic, sometimes oblique; yellowish, freely striped and splashed with red; many large 
dots; stalk short, in large cavity; calyx partly open; flesh yellowish, fair quality; 
reported a shy bearer in high altitudes. (See table.) 

FallawateR; syn. Tulpehocken. — (Pennsylvania.) Very large, globular, in- 
clined to conic; yellowish green, shaded with dull red and sprinkled with large, gray 
dots; stalk very short, inserted in deep cavity; calyx small, closed, set in slightly 
plaited basin; flesh greenish white, juicy, pleasant, subacid. Approved in Humboldt 
and Napa Counties. 

Northern Spy. — (New York.) Large, roundish, oblate conical; pale yellow, 
purplish red stripes in the sun; stalk three-fourths inch, slender, in wide, deep cavity; 
calyx small, closed; flesh white, mild, pleasant; highly esteemed in a few localities, 
but abandoned in others for shy bearing. (See table.) 

Red Winter Pearmain. — Medium to large, roundish oblong conic; yellowish 
white, mostly shaded with maroon and thickly sprinkled with large, light dots; stalk 
very short in an acute, deep cavity; calyx closed, in small, round, open basin; flesh 
whitish yellow, tender, juicy, aromatic; tree healthy, and fruit keeps well. (See 
table.) 

White Winter Pearmain. — Large, roundish oblong conic, somewhat oblique; 
pale yellow with slight blush; many minute brown dots; stalk short, in deep cavity; 
calyx nearly closed; flesh yellowish, tender, crisp, juic)', very pleasant subacid, extra, 
high flavor; grown everywhere, and fruit keeps late; tree a strong grower and healthy. 
(See table.) 

Virginia Greening. — Large, oblate, greenish yellow, thickly covered with 

brown dots and a slight blush; stalk rather long, in a large cavity; calyx open, in 

broad basin; flesh yellow, compact, pleasant, subacid. Approved in Sonoma and 
San Benito Counties. 

Lady. — (French.) Small, regularly formed, flat; smooth and glossy, with 
brilliant red cheek contrasting with lemon yellow ground; flesh white, crisp, juicy 
and pleasant; chiefly used for ornamental purposes. Approved in Sonoma County. 

RA^VLES Janet. — (Virginia.) Medium to large, oblate conic; yellowish, shaded 
with red and striped with crimson; stalk short and thick, in broad, open cavity; calyx 
partially open, in shallow basin; flesh yellow, tender, juicy, pleasant vinous flavor; 
tree healthy and prolific. (See table.) 

Wagener. — (New York.) Medium to large, yellow, mostly covered with crim- 
son, obscurely striped and sprinkled with light dots; stalk nearly an inch, rather 
slender, in large, broad, irregular cavity; calyx small and closed; flesh yellowish, 
very tender, juicy, excellent, high flavor. Commended for frosty places as a very 
late bloomer. (See table.) 

Kentucky Red Streak. — Medium, roundish, slightly inclined to conic, 
greenish yellow, shaded with dull purplish red and indistinctly splashed and striped, 
thickly sprinkled with large light dots, having gray centers; stalk medium; calyx 
closed; flesh whitish, tender, juicy, mild subacid. Approved in San Benito, Los 
Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. 
16 



242 Crab Apples. 

Stark. — Large, roundish, inclined to conic; sometimes elongated, sometimes 
oblique; greenish yellow, nenrly covered with dark red and sprinkled with light and 
brown dots; stalk short, rather stout; calyx closed; flesh yellowish. Approved in 
Santa Barbara and Tulare Counties. 

American Pii'pin; syn. Grindstone. — Medium, regular, oblate; dull red in 
patches on green ground; flesh white, firm, juicy, with brisk, acid flavor. Approved 
in San Benito County. 

Green Newtown Pippin. — (New York.) Medium, roundish, little irregular, 
caused by two or three obscure ribs on the sides; dull green becoming oli\e green 
when ripe, with faint, dull, brownish flush on one side; dotted with small gray specks; 
stalk slender and deeply sunk in a wide cavity; flesh greenish white, very juicy. Ap- 
proved in San Benito County. This apple seems as obscure in this State as its con- 
gener, the following, is prominent. 

Yellow Newtown Pippin. — Large, roundish, oblate and oblique, more or 
less flattened; yellow with brownish red cheek; stalk very short; flesh firm, crisp, 
juicy, and with very rich, high flavor. Generally considered the best winter apple in 
California. (See table.) 

CRAB apples. 

Though most of the improved varieties of crab apple have been introduced 
and are grown to a small extent in California, the sorts which have been most gen- 
erally distributed are the following: — 

Hyslop. — Fruit large, growing in clusters; roundish ovate, dark rich red, cov- 
ered with thick blue bloom; stalk long, slender; calyx closed; flesh yellowish. 

Large Red Siberian. — Roundish ovate with large and prominent calyx; pale 
red and yellow skin. 

Large Yellow Siberian. — Fruit similar in size to foregoing, roundish oval, 
flattened at base and crown; light, clear yellow, inclining to amber, with warm cheek. 

Transcendant. — Medium to large, roundish oval, flattened at the ends, 
slightly, but regularly ribbed; golden yellow, with rich, crimson cheek, or nearly 
covered with red; delicate white bloom; stalk long, and slender, in open, deep cavity; 
calyx closed; flesh creamy yellow. 

Montreal Beauty. — Large, roundish oblate; bright yellow, mostly covered 
and shaded with red; one of the most beautiful of crabs. 

Whitney's Crab. — Large, handsome, greenish yellow, striped with crimson. 

CALIFORNIA SEEDLING APPLES. 

Skinner's Seedling. (Name approved by California State Horticultural 
Society, November, 1887.) Syn. Skinner's Pippin; Santa Clara King. — 
Originated with Judge H. C. Skinner, on bank of Coyote, east of San Jose, and tree 
reported still standingin 1S79. Recommended by B. S. Fox at Convention of Fruit- 
growers held in San Francisco, September 8, 1859, and adopted for trial. Described 
by Committee of New Fruits American Pomological Society 1877 (p. 46) as fol- 
lows: — 

"Santa Clara King: Fruit large to very large; form, oblate, conic, slightly 
mixed; color, rich lemon yellow, faintly striped with bright red; flesh, yellowish 
white, very tender, juicy, sprightly, mild subacid; quality, best. Season, September 
and October. I'his is the best very large apple we have seen. Said to be a good 
grower and productive." 

Recommended by .Southern California Nurserymen's Association for family use 
in 1886. (See table.) 



California Seedling Apples. 243 

Marshall's Red. (Name approved by California State Horticultural Society, 
November, 1887. 1 'Syn. Red Bel/Jimver, Marshall's Seedling. — Originated with J. L. 
Marshall, Brown's Valley, near Napa, from seeds of Yellow Bellflower, the branches 
of which interlaced with those of a Red June tree, and the seedling is presumably a 
chance hybrid between these two varieties. Fruited first about 1877, and generally 
introduced by Leonard Coates in 1884. The tree resembles Red June in habit of 
growth; fruit large, same shape as Yellow Bellflower, but of same color as Red 
June; quality very good; flesh firm and fine-grained; aromatic, and slightly more 
acid than the Yellow Bellflower; tree, a very heavy bearer, and the fruit ripens in 
October in the bay region. 

Violet. — Originated with J. W. Violet, of lone. One of the largest apples 
known, averaging nearly as large as Gloria Mundi; conical shape, a beautiful red 
nearly all over; solid; firm and crisp, good flavor, fine shipper — September to Jan- 
uary. Tree strong grower, with upright habit; bark on new wood smooth, glossy 
and light chestnut color; leaves quite peculiar — a rich, glossy green. — W. R. Strong 
lS: Co. 

Merkeley's Red. — Originated on farm of R. W. Merkeley, near Sacramento. 
Fruit large size, dark red, excellent flavor, crisp and juicy — a superior market variety. 
— W. R. Strong & Co. 

Lucy's Red Cheek. — A fall apple originating with Joseph Sexton, Goleta, 
Santa Barbara County; fruit medium; roundish, somewhat flattened; skin with a 
ground of pale, greenish yellow mixed with faint streaks of pale red on shady side, 
with a bright red cheek; calyx small and set in shallow, rather narrow basin; flesh 
white, tender, juicy, with a slight perfume. 

Sexton's Golden Seedling. — Originated with Joseph Sexton, of Goleta. 
Large, roundish, flattened; golden color with a little blush on one side; thin 
skin and full eye; stem strong in medium cavity; flesh inclined to be buttery, and a 
sprightly acid flavor; fine table or cooking apple; a fall apple. "The handsomest 
apple I raise, good size, good bearer; ripe in September, exceedingly tart, and one 
of the best cooking apples I ever saw." — S. P. Snow, Santa Barbara. " Better than 
any old kinds of its season, August to October." — G. W. Coffin, Santa Barbara. 
" A superior August apple and good till October." — R. Machin, Lompoc. 

Calistoga. — An apple sent to be named by the State Horticultural Society by 
Samuel Kellett. in March, 1883. Said to have been found in a garden in Calistoga. 
Pronounced by a committee to be well worth preserving, fine color, flavor, and a good 
keeper. No f^uller description is given. Apple named " Calistoga." At Horticult- 
ural Society meeting, November, 1887, W. \V. Smith said he had kept the Calistoga 
until June, and considered it valuable on this account, if for no other reason. 

Beauty ok Alameda. — (Named by California State Horticultural Society, 
December, 1882.) A red apple shown by the late W. H. Jessup, of Haywards. 
Tree from seed planted by W. C. Blackwood. Color deep red, shape like Bell- 
flower, and averaging about the same size, very firm, mild acid, rich. 

Clyman's Pippin. — Originated in Green Valley, Sonoma County, from seed 
brought from Oregon by Lancaster Clyman early in the fifties. He fruited a large 
lot of seedlings and two of them were propagated and distributed by W. H. Pepper, 
of Petaluma, and others. These two were shown at the first county fair in Santa 
Rosa some years ago, and one was named Clyman's Pippin and the other Clyman's 
Russet, although it showed no russet except a little at the stem. Mr. Pepper has 
the latter in bearing and calls it the "Clyman." In the upper part of Santa Rosa 
Valley they are growing as the Clyman Pippin the one known in Mr. Pepper's neigh- 
borhood as "Clyman's Russet," or the "Clyman." This matter should be straight- 
ened out. 

Cook's Seedling. (Name approved by California State Horticultural Society, 
November, 1887.) Syn. Sonoma Seedling. — Brought to notice by O. B. Shaw, of 



244 California Seedling Apples. 

Sonoma, who sent specimens to the Rural Press in January, 1872. Described in that 
paper, January 27, as a seedling raised by David Cook from the seed of the Juneat- 
ing. Above medium size, pale yellow striped with red, sharp acid flavor. Not de- 
cidedly rich, but flavor full and acceptable. Excellent keeping qualities. Espe- 
cially popular in Sonoma and Napa Counties; reported unfavorably from Placer 
County. 

Excelsior. — Originated with O. N. Cad well, of Carpenteria, Santa Barbara 
County. Shown at Los Angeles Horticultural Fair, 1879. Pale yellow in the shade 
and in the sun wholly red, light red streaked with claret; four inches in horizontal 
diameter; oblate, base and apex deeply depressed; flavor good, fine for table and dries 
well; core very small; ripens in October and keeps till December. 

Acme. — Originated with O. N. Cadwell; large, oblong, tapering like the Yellow 
Bellflower; dark red, skin rather unhandsome, flesh very tender and juicy; flavor 
peculiar, but pleasant; ripens in October and keeps till last of November. 

EsOPUS Spitzenburg Seedling. — At the meeting of the State Horticultural 
Society, April 3, 1880; Milton Thomas, of Los Angeles, showed a seedling from the 
Esopus Spitzenburg which he found a heavy bearer and excellent keeping apple. 
Described by Mr. Thomas {September, 1888); rather small, dark but bright red; not 
quite as large as Jonathan, but a much better keeper; keeping until February; quality 



Walsh'.s Seedling. — Found in garden of Mr. Walsh, of Aptos, Santa Cruz 
County; propagated by James Waters, of Watsonville, who considers it a seedling of 
Yellow Bellflower from the resemblance of the fruit, and he reports the bark of the 
young growth the same as that variety, but the manner of growth of the tree is dif- 
ferent and the fruit keeps a month longer than the Bellflower. Fruit shown at the 
Chico Convention of 1888 was reported on by a committee consisting of John Rock, 
C. W. Reed, and B. G. Stabler as follows: "We find the apple of the Bellflower 
type rather broader at the base, but not so much elongated; resembling that well- 
known variety, except that the acidity, in the specimens shown, is somewhat less 
marked. " 

TABULAR SHOWING OF ADAPTATIONS. 

Upon the two following pages will be given tabular state- 
ments of varieties of apples which are approved by growers in the 
several counties of the State. The data has been collected by the 
writer from personal observation and statements made by 
growers during a long series of years. Some additions have 
also been made on the authority of reports to the State Board 
of Horticulture in 1 888 ; these reports having been kindly submit- 
ted to the writer by Mr. Lelong. The plan of the table is to mark 
with an asterisk (*) the counties in which certain varieties have 
been reported valuable. It is the writer's design to introduce 
in later editions, if possible, negative marks where certain varieties 
are found undesirable. But this work cannot be attempted at 
this time. In its present form the table merely shows where 
certain varieties have been actually tried and approved. 

The arrangement of the counties is devised to bring those of 
similar local climates as near together as possible, and the main 
divisions of the State, as indicated in chapter i, are observed. 
These notes apply also to the tabular statements, which will be 
found in the following chapters on other fruits: — 



Summer and Fall Apples. 



245 



Table embodying reports from actual growers naming varieties of sum- 
mer AND FALL APPLES CONSIDERED MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES INDI- 
CATED. 



Counties 
of California. 



Del Norte. . . 
Humboldt . . . 
Mendocino 

Lake 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa. 
Alameda . . 
Santa Clara 
San Mateo. . 
Santa Cruz 
San Benito.. 
Monterey . . 
San Luis Obispo . 
Santa Barbara. 
Ventura. . . 
Los Angeles . , 
San Diego. 
San Bernardino. 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced. .... 
Stanislaus + . 
San Joacjuin. . 
Sacramento . 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassent 

Plumas. ..... 

Sierra 

Nevada . , . 

Placer 

El Dorado. . . 

Amador 

Calaveras. . . . 
Tuolumne . . . 
Mariposa .... 

Alpine t 

Mono 

Inyo 

t No data. 



246 



Late Fall and Winter Apples. 



Table embodying reports from actual growers naming varieties of late 
fall and winter apples considered most satisfactory in the counties in- 
DICATED. 



Counties 
OF California. 



Del Norte. . . 
Humboldt . . . 
Mendocino . 
Lake. ..... 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa. 
Alameda . . . 
Santa Clara. . 
San Mateo. . . 
Santa Cruz 
San Benito. . . 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo. 
Santa Barbara. . . 

Ventura 

Los Angeles. 
San Diego. . . 
San Bernardino. 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus t . 
San Joaquin. . 
Sacramento . 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassent 

Plumas. .... 

Sierra 

Nevada .... 

Placer 

El D..rado.. 

Amador 

Calaveras. . . . 
Tuolumne . . . 
Mariposa .... 

Alpine t 

Mono 

Inyo 

t No data. 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE APRICOT. 



California has peculiar adaptations for the growth of the 
apricot. It has often been pointed out that such adaptations 
are exceptional, and that nowhere else does the fruit attain such 
perfection nor possess such commercial importance. Although 
the apricot has been grown here from the earliest daj^s of the 
American occupation, and though since the opening of the 
export trade in canned and dried fruits, the planting of apricot 
orchards has proceeded with great rapidity, present indications 
are that our distant patrons are only just beginning to recognize 
the desirability of the fruit, and that their demands will make it 
well-nigh impossible for us to extend our production beyond 
profitable limits. 

Though the apricot has some pests and diseases to contend 
with, they have thus far proved slight evils, and the tree is gen- 
erally regarded as one of our healthiest and most vigorous, as it 
certainly is one of our most beautiful, orchard trees. It is long- 
lived and attains great size. There is on the ranch of F. Hubert, 
near Burson, in Calaveras County, a seedling apricot tree planted 
March lo, 1857, which now has a trunk seven and one-half feet 
in circumference, and has yielded one thousand five hundred 
pounds of fruit of good quality in a season. At Haywards, 
Alameda County, Judge Blackwood has apricots worked on 
peach stock in 1857, which are still in good bearing. His ob- 
servation is that the apricot gives longevity to the peach root, for 
the peach trees of the same age not worked with apricot have 
disappeared. But thirty years of life and vigor is only a part 
of the career of the apricot in California, if it is fair to judge by 
the vigor of trees in New Mexico which were found growing 
there by the earh' trappers and frontiersmen, and were appar- 
ently old trees fifty years ago. 

The apricot is a rapid grower and an early and heavy 
bearer in California. In the interior and in the southern coast 
valleys it yields a paying crop during its third summer in the 
orchard, and from eight to fourteen tons to the acre has been 
reached for several years in succession, in Judge Blackwood's old 
orchard, of Roval apricots in Alameda County. 

(247) 



248 Localities for tJie Apricot. 

The trees, even of some varieties which are uncertain bear- 
ers, are large and vigorous growers. Prof. C. H. Dwindle 
makes the pertinent suggestion that there is a use for the apricot 
tree which many have not discovered, that is, for a wind-break 
for the protection of other trees. The peach shrinks away from 
the trade-winds, but the apricot leans a little toward it, and is 
thickest in foliage on that side. The trees may be planted near 
together in strong land and make a wind-break that will pay its 
way without regard to such fruit as it may incidentally produce. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE APRICOT. 

In speaking of localities for the apricot, reference is, of 
course, only made to its growth as a standard orchard tree with- 
out protection of any kind. It shows even in California that it 
does not forget the conditions which destroy its thrift elsewhere, 
for late frosts in our three upper coast counties, Mendocino, 
Humboldt, and Del Norte, render it, as a rule, unprofitable; and 
Lake County, just back from the coast, cannot be commended 
for the apricot, except in protected situations. It is also sensi- 
tive to too great elevation on the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, 
though it thrives in the lower foot-hills. In the depressions of 
the great interior valleys young trees sometimes suffer, unless 
given some protection, while older ones are unharmed. In the 
northern coast valleys, apricots usually do better on the hillsides 
than on the floors of the- valleys, because there is less frost at 
the slight elevations. 

It is often claimed that situations directly subject to ocean 
influences are best for the apricot. It is noted by many ob- 
servers that the apricot " points its best branches to the ocean, 
in the very teeth of the constant breeze, and the landward limbs 
and twigs bend up and endeavor to reach in the same direction. 
This is patent in every tree, and in the long orchard rows is very 
striking." * This is taken to signify the special liking of the tree 
for the vicinity of the coast. It is well enough to interpret it that 
way, providing one does not lose sight of the perfect success of 
the apricot in the interior as well. It is true that the fruit near 
the coast attains higher color, and the less rapid growth of the 
tree makes it somewhat easier to handle, but the earlier ripening 
in the interior, coupled with freedom from fog and constant 
sunshine for drying, which enable the grower in favorable situa- 
tions to dispense with machine driers, are points of the highest 
industrial importance. The fact is, that the apricot has a very 
wide range in California, and though the trees have been cut 



*S K. Thorpe, of San Buena Ventura. 



Stocks and Soils for the Apricot. 249 

out at some points it has been chiefly because they do not thrive 
under the summer irrigation system which has been practiced, 
or because some other fruit has seemed to be locally more de- 
sirable, for one reason or another. 

In some valleys in the upper part of the State, opening 
directly to the ocean, there is sometimes complaint of the crack- 
ing of the fruit on the sunny side. The alternation of sunshine 
and fog seems to have something to do with this, for in favor- 
able years, when fogs are {e\w, the fruit is sound. 

Locations for early ripening of the apricot are to be chosen 
with reference to the influence of topography, as laid down in 
the chapter on that subject. In a general way it may be said, in 
regions directly subject to coast influences, both in Northern and 
Southern California, the apricot is late. On the west side of 
the Sacramento Valley, in small, hill-locked valleys, the earliest 
apricots have been grown for years, and recent experience indi- 
cates that protected situations in the foot-hills of the Sierra 
Nevada, on the eastern rim of both the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin Valleys, share in the production of the earliest ripening 
fruit. There is much yet to be determined on this subject. 
There is probably about a month's difference in the ripening of 
the same variety, in the earliest interior situations and in the 
coast valleys of both Northern and Southern California. 

In the interior of Southern California, in irrigated situa- 
tions on the so-called Colorado Desert, and in Arizona, apricots 
promise to rival in earliness the famous valleys of interior 
Northern California. 

STOCKS AND SOILS FOR THE APRICOT. 

Because of the success with which the apricot can be 
budded on various stocks, it has a wide range in adaptation to 
different soils. Budded on the peach root it may be grown 
successfully on the light, warm, well-drained loams in which the 
peach delights. The peach root is, in fact, largely used for the 
apricot. It gives the tree quick growth and early fruiting, and 
the fact that the gopher does not like the peach root is a con- 
sideration vyith some planters. In growing stock, pits of a 
strong-growing, yellow peach should be secured. 

For deep, rich, well-drained, loamy soils, the apricot on its 
own root makes a magnificent tree. Apricot roots for budding 
are easily secured. -The pits sprout as readily as corn. Dr. 
Kimball, of Haywards, an experienced tree propagator, recom- 
mends especially pits of the Royal, Blenheim, and Early Golden, 
for growing stocks for budding. Sometimes, where cutting and 
drying is done in the orchard, the ground the next spring will be 



250 Almo)id Stock Dangerous. 

almost covered with a volunteer crop of seedling apricots. 
These little plants taken up and set out in nursery rows in 
March are ready for budding in June or July. Large numbers 
of trees are sometimes secured in this way. In the upper San 
Joaquin Valley there are situations in which the apricot seems 
more productive on its own roots than on the peach. 

When it is desired to grow the apricot in moister and 
heavier soils than have been described, or where a light soil is 
underlaid by a heavy, retentive subsoil, recourse should be had to 
the plum root. Only a non-suckering plum stock should be 
used. For this purpose the myrabolan has proved admirably 
adapted. W. H. Pepper, of Petaluma, is using this stock almost 
exclusively. It takes the bud well and makes a fine tree. The 
manner of securing myrabolan stocks has been described in the 
chapter on propagation. 

Apricot on Almond. — The almond should as a rule be 
rejected as a stock for the apricot. Hundreds have tried it, and 
found that the scion never made a good union with the wood of 
the stock, but was knit to it only by the bark, and is therefore 
easily broken off by the wind. It may grow well and some- 
times get to be two or three inches in diameter before it breaks off, 
thus wasting much time for the orchardist. Whole orchards 
worked in this way have been a loss and disappointment. 

A few growers, however, approve the almond and use it 
with the idea that it gives larger fruit. J. J. Shaner, of Los 
Gatos, advocates the almond stock for the Royal apricot in dry 
soils and thinks that the failure to form a union of the two 
woods in the experience of others may have resulted from too 
close suckering of the stock. He proceeds, however, by root 
grafting, instead of budding, using the side graft described on 
page one hundred and eleven. He cuts off the top of the stock 
about four to six inches above ground, scrapes away the dirt, 
bends the stock, and with a sharp, thin knife, cuts into the root to 
the center, making the cut perpendicular, so that the graft will be 
that way when inserted. The scion should be made wedge- 
shaped. After insertion draw the loose earth around it, and the 
work is done until the graft has made a growth of eighteen to 
twenty-four inches, then sucker; but if the suckers have hard- 
ened, a knife or shears must be used. By doing this, he says 
the union will not be broken. Mr. Shaner grows the Moorpark 
on the apricot root and the Royal on the almond root. The 
former always grows large fruit; the latter, he believes, is im- 
proved in size by the almond stock. This is given as a record 
of experience, but still caution is urged against the use of the 
almond as stock for the apricot. 



Planting the Apricot. 251 

In addition to the specifications of certain stocks for differ- 
ent soils, it may be remarked, in a general way, that the apricot 
seems to thrive better on a tolerably heavy soil, with enough 
sand to make it work easily, than on a very light soil. It does 
well on soil rather too heavy for the peach. It also enjoys 
moisture better and gives signs of distress unless its roots are 
fairly supplied all during the season, but it dislikes standing 
water and should not be planted on undrained situations. 

EXPOSURES FOR THE APRICOT. 

The apricot blooms early; it follows the lead of the almond. 
Thus it runs greater risk than other fruits of frost injuries dur- 
ing blooming. And in the parts of the State most subject to 
frost, exposures should be selected in accordance with the princi- 
ples laid down in chapter i, which treats of topography as 
related to fruit growing. 

In securing the advantage of the earliest ripening even in 
the earliest districts, elevation is of great importance. The first 
apricots of the season for a number of years have come from an 
elevated ridge, rising in the center of Pleasants' Valley, in 
Solano County. This ridge has higher hills but a short distance 
away on both east and west, which protect it from cold winds, 
and on all sides there is low ground, to which cold air can freely 
descend. In this spot apricots and other fruits ripen several 
days earlier than on other lands but little removed. 

PLANTING THE APRICOT. 

The apricot becomes a large tree in California, as has 
already been remarked, and the deduction which most growers 
are drawing from their experience, is, that it should be given 
plenty of room. Joseph Sexton, of Santa Barbara, says: — 

Apricots should be planted in orchards not closer than 25x25 feet. They will 
then touch in about twelve years, if planted in good land, and if on poor land it is 
better to give them plenty of room, for they will not stand crowding as well as on 
good land. I have one tree of fourteen years' growth from the bud that measures 
thirteen inches in diameter of body one foot from the ground, and the top spreads 
thirty-eight feet. It is on good valley land. The apricot is next to the walnut in 
growth, and we may find, when better acquainted with it, that we should give the 
tree as much room as we are giving the walnut, 40x40 feet. 

This Statement agrees well with the general experience of 
our apricot growers. The tendenc}^ is continually toward wider 
planting. Mr. A. T. Hatcli has made his later plantings thirty 
feet each way. 

The apricot makes such rapid growth and so much depends 
upon giving it proper form, as will be seen presently, that one 
year's growth is all that should be allowed in the nursery. Some 



25?- Apricots in Dormant Bud. 

growers would rather have a dormant bud than a two-year-old 
tree, and cases have been reported of trees from dormant buds 
outgrowing yearhng trees planted at the same time in the same 
orchard. Dr. Strentzel says he finds two-year-old peach seed- 
lings budded with the apricot and transplanted early in the 
season, in dormant bud, preferable to older growth. But care 
should be taken to devolop a short trunk to the tree by pinch- 
ing the side shoots near the ground. Trees started from dor- 
mant bud and allowed to branch from the ground, have, in some 
situations, lost their lower branches hy the wind. The tree 
should have a low head, but a short trunk seems to give a better 
tree, and more elasticity to the branches. 

PRUNING THE APRICOT. 

Of all California orchard trees, the apricot seems most in 
need of the constant attention of the orchardist to give it proper 
shape and strength. It is a rampant grower, and in its zealous 
haste for size and fruitage it overreaches itself and becomes the 
prey of specific gravity and wind force. Thousands of trees 
have been ruined by literally breaking to pieces with the 
weight of their fruit, and being torn by winds of only ordinary 
velocity. Thousands more have been rescued from such a fate 
by bolting the branches to each other, as described in chapter 
XIJ, on pruning. This excessive growth and consequent weak- 
ness of the apricot is greater in some parts of the State than in 
others, because of the difference in degree of forcing con- 
ditions, but everywhere the apricot needs watchfulness and 
timely aid in building up its strength. The general principles 
to be observed may be briefly summarized, and then the methods 
of securing them by practical growers in different parts of the 
State will be given : — 

First — Low heading of the apricot and oblique upward 
trend of the main branches must be secured, for the reasons 
given in the chapter on pruning. The engraving on the fol- 
lowing page, of six-year-old apricots in bloom in Vaca Valley 
shows the general form of tree indicated. 

Second — The prevention of forks, and giving each branch 
a clear hold of its own on the trunk by bringing them out at 
different points up and down and balancing them around the 
trunk, is indispensable. For this reason it is a mistake to allow 
all the branches to emerge near together at the top of the stem. 
This has been mentioned in a general way in the chapter on 
pruning, and is repeated here to emphasize the special im- 
portance in reference to this fruit. 



Pruning the Apricot. 



!53 



Third — Remember that the growth of lateral branches 
causes greater deposit of woody fiber along the main branch or 
stem, and consequently greater inherent strength. Therefore, do 
not rub off shoots which are putting out along the stem or main 
branches, but rather pinch off the ends of those which are not 






-,** 







-•c^ 




Six-Year-Old Apricot Trees in Bloom, Buck's Orchard, Vaca Valley. 

desired to grow. This pinching will have to be done several 
times during the summer. The tufts of leaves will shade the 
stem and will secure the thickening which is desirable. 

Fourth — Shortening in or cutting back is essential to se- 
curing sustaining strength to the apricot. This must be done 
wherever the apricot is grown in this State, but the measure of 
the treatment varies according to local conditions. In some 
parts cutting back in the winter is relied upon, in others, both 



254 G rollers Methods of Pruning. 

summer and winter " shortening in " are practiced, though there 
seems now to be a disposition to restrict heavy cutting to the 
winter pruning. 

METHODS OF LEADING GROWERS. 

The following is the method followed by W. \V. Smith, of 
Vaca Valley, and described by him in an essay before the Cali- 
fornia State Horticultural Society: — 

The apricot is somewhat peculiar in its mode of bearing fruit; like the peach, it 
bears on wood of last year's growth, and like the plum, it also bears on small fruit 
spurs of two or more years' growth. Then, again, it is very peculiar in its manner of 
growth; each summer's growth is furnished nearly throughout its entire length with 
small side-shoots or laterals. This is different from other fruit trees. In pruning we 
recommend the annual shortening-in system; that is, this winter cut away one-half or 
two-thirds, according to the amount of growth the trees make, of last summer's 
growth. But after the branches have been cut off, there will still remain the small 
laterals; these should also be cut back, say to a length of two to four inches. They 
will thus be converted into fruit spurs, and a saving of one or two years' time in the 
bearing of the tree is gained, for the crop on the one-year-old wood cannot be relied 
on, but the main yield will come upon the small spurs in the interior of the tree. 
Hence the advantage of the annual shortening-in system; it keeps those spurs in a 
healthy condition. Trees trained in the shape of a vase or goblet and cut back every 
winter will remain in a healthly, vigorous condition for a long time. 

Retaining a Central Stem. — The following method, 
described by J. A. Schoelfield, of Hollister, San Benito County,* 
builds the tree upon a central stem or leader: — 

The apricot is a vigorous grower and apt to overbear, hence it must be cut back 
heavily, at least for the first three years, in order that the wood may become strong 
and the tree stocky, that it may successfully withstand the wind and hold the subse- 
quent crops %vithout breaking down. I would recommend upon planting to cut the 
tree back to about fourteen to eighteen inches in height, removing all laterals. 
During the first year of the tree's life in the orchard, it will throw out numerous 
shoots, which are to be removed at the first pruning, leaving three or four of the 
most vigorous, being careful to select those at a distance from each other, rather than 
those around the crown, which, if left, have a tendency to break down or split the tree. 
Cut these back to about one foot in length, leaving the center or leader from six to 
eight inches longer than the rest, and lea\-ing the terminal bud toward the center, 
and the terminal bud on the leader, on the side from which it leans. This is done 
that the tree may always stand on its own center. The second year the tree will grow 
more vigorous than the first, hence it becomes necessarj' to pinch off the ends of the 
shoots in order to harden the wood, and cause the trees to throw out some fruit 
spurs. This is done in August and September. The second pruning is more com- 
plicated than the first. Remove all outside branches having a low tendency, as they 
interfere with cultivation and are liable to break when full of fruit, lea%"ing a gap in 
the tree which is not easily filled, thus destroying the symmetry of the tree. Thin 
out well the center of the tree and cut back to about fourteen or sixteen inches again, 
leaving leader longer than the rest, and leaving terminal buds same as before. So 
the tree is treated every year, the great object being to make a strong, handsome tree, 
the branches far enough apart to prevent rubbing or growing one across the other. I 
am a firm believer in summer pruning, always cutting off all superfluous growth 
(water sprouts), which are only a drain upon the tree, and if removed cause the sap to 
flow where it is needed. Always remove all weak or unhealthy fruit spurs. 



" Hollister Free Lance, February 17, ig 



Pruning Tzvice in the Year. 



■^55 



Summer and Winter Pruning. — The follo\vin<,^ in 
which J. H. Harding, of Fresno* describes his practice, may 
be taken to represent the most vigorous system of pruning 
practiced in this State, as it employs two well-defined "shorten- 
ings in," one in the summer and the other in the winter: — 

I watch my trees the first season after planting, and as soon as they have grown 
three feet cut back to eight or ten inches. This causes the sap to fill up every pore in 
the body and limbs of the tree preparatory to pushing out a new growth of side limbs, 
or laterals, on the new wood you have left, and this stiffens up the whole stock, and 
also helps to make the junction of old and new wood more solid, neither can the 
winds whip and bend your young tree about and split off limbs. Soon after you have 
cut away this new growth you will see young shoots starting out all over the tree, 
and if, when they have made a similar growth, the head of your tree is not thick 
enough, or seems top-heavy and weaves about, cut back again and don't be afraid of 
hurting it, but get your tree stocky. With all the care and deep cultivation nece» 
sary, your tree should make a fine growth and be well shaped the first year. Then in the 
following winter prune out all weak branches, cross limbs, and cutback the ends of all 
limbs to good, sound, well-matured wood. Follow up the same treatment second 
and third years, and never allow your tree to run out long limbs and sprawl about, 
always keeping the head well balanced, and, where exposed, the heaviest side to the 
wind. The apricot, as we all know, for the first few years is a wonderful grower, 
and must be kept in subjection, or it will, in this valley especially, run away with 
itself and go to pieces sure. 

Where this summer shortening is practiced it is important 
that it should be done early in the summer; for instance, just 
after the fruit is gathered, so that the second growth of wood 
which is forced out may have time to harden. But where sum- 
mer pruning is done to develop fruit buds, it is well not to do it 
too early, because wood growth is not desired. It is usually 
done at the first spare time after the general fruit crop is cared 
for, and is, therefore, sometimes deferred as late as the first part 
of October, but is usually accomplished in the latter part of 
August and September. Shortening in both summer and winter 
to repress too exuberant growth, and secure good weight-bearing 
strength in the tree, is the usual practice in Southern California. 
The engraving shows a tree after its summer pruning, the limb 
held up by the pruner giving an idea of how great growth is 
sometimes cut away. The engraving on the next page is from a 
photograph by E. A. Bonine, of Los Angeles County. 

THINNING THE APRICOT. 

All free-fruiting varieties of the apricot must be thinned to 
secure size acceptable to purchasers. It is the experience of the 
oldest growers that though thinning is an expensive operation, 
it is very profitable. When half the fruit is taken off in thin- 
ning, the remainder reaches as large aggregate weight as though 
the whole were allowed to mature, and the thinned fruit is worth 



* Fresno Republican, August 5, 18 



256 Diseases of the Apricot. 

about twice as much per pound. Even if less weight is secured, 
and in most cases the purpose should be to get less weight, 
the tree is spared the exhaustion of overbearing and the owner 
escapes a year of little or no fruit. Some growers are con- 




SuMMER Pruning the Apricot in Southern California. 

stantly,'on the lookout for varieties which set less fruit, distribute 
it better over the tree, and bear regularly every year. Whether 
they will attain this ideal of behavior in an apricot tree is not 
certain, but some sorts seem to promise something in that 
direction. 

DISEASES OF THE APRICOT. 

Though the apricot tree, as has been said, is regarded as 
one of healthiest fruit trees, it is subject to some maladies. 
Trees perish from being set in unsuitable situations, and in these 
cases, if the evil be stagnant water in the soil, or penetration to 
alkaline subsoil, the root shows it. Sometimes, however, a 
branch or a whole tree withers and dies without apparent cause 
early in the summer, and while the root is still sound. The dis- 
ease is evidently acute, but its cause is not known, nor a remedy 
proposed. It is an old trouble of the apricot and not peculiar 
to California. 

The so-called "gum disease" sometimes causes injury to 
trees. The best treatment is to cut away the diseased part 



Varieties of the Apricot. 257 

down to healthy wood and cover the wound with a solution of 
shellac in alcohol. Some growers have reported good results by 
binding on a plaster of fresh cow manure and mud, equal parts of 
each. This is applied after scraping away the diseased bark, 
and it is kept moist for a few days by pouring on a little water. 

Some years certain varieties in particular are blackened at 
the pit and rendered unsalable, but the trouble has not thus far 
proved serious generally. 

The worst injury to tree and fruit is done by what is called 
the " shot-hole fungus " {^PJiyllosticta circujuscissa), from its 
perforations of the leaves as though by a charge from a shot- 
gun. It makes ugly scars on the fruit, which render it unsala- 
ble. The same disease also affects the leaves of cherries and 
plums. Dr. Kimball, of Haywards, says that the air-slaked 
lime thoroughly sprinkled over the tree immediately after the 
setting of the fruit and bursting forth of the leaves, has proved 
an effectual remedy. 

Until recently the apricot has been considered free from 
scale insects, and it is not affected by those species which are 
worst on some other fruit trees. Within the last two years the 
apricot has been seriously infested in some places with a large, 
light brown scale, probably a lecanium, of which the species has 
not been determined, of which fuller mention will be made in 
the chapter on injurious insects. 

The ripe apricot is sometimes seriously assailed by the 
diabrotica, a small green beetle, with twelve black spots upon 
its wing covers. Dusting with air-slaked lime and driving the 
insects away with smoke smudges, have been used to some 
extent. Fortunately the insect only occasionally occurs in large 
numbers. 

VARIETIES OF THE APRICOT. 

Though nearly all standard varieties of the apricot have 
been introduced and planted in this State, comparatively few 
are found on the lists of the orchard planters. Many local 
seedlings are coming into notice, and probably within the next 
'i&v^ years some of them will be widely used. As with most 
other fruits, some varieties are found to succeed wherever con- 
ditions favor the fruit at all; other varieties succeed in some 
regions and not in others. Our table of varieties for the differ- 
ent counties shows this fact, and an attempt will be made to 
make the showing more explicit by notes in connection with the 
mention of each variety. There are, however, differences in lo- 
calities not far apart which greatly influence the behavior of 
varieties and make any generalization defective. For example, 
C. M. Drake, of Springville, Ventura County, in a mountain val- 
17 



258 



Varieties CJiiefly Grozvn in California. 



ley at an elevation of about i,6oo feet, planted, in 1884, the 
Early Golden, Large Early, Hemskirke, Moorpark, Peach, and 
Royal varieties, which do well in the Santa Clara Valley eight 
miles from his place. Of these he has so far only had satisfac- 
tory returns from the Hemskirke and Royal; the Moorpark and 
peach have yielded a little, and the Early Golden none. 

In the following statement the arrangement is approxi- 
mately in the order of ripening, and the descriptions are from 
Downing, with additions and changes to meet local observation. 

VARIETIES OF FOREIGN ORIGIN. 

Large Early. — A French variety; fruit of medium size, rather oblong and 
compressed; suture deep, skin slightly downy; pale orange in the shade, fine bright 
orange with a few ruddy spots in the sun; flesh separating readily from the stone, 
orange-colored, rich and juicy; kernel bitter. This variety is especially popular in the 
southern coast counties, but in most situations has proved an uncertain bearer. 
Ripens before Royal. 

Early Golden. — Origin unknown; small, roundish oval, with suture well 
marked and extending halfway around; skin smooth; pale orange, flesh yellow; 
moderately juicy and sweet, with very good flavor; separates from the stone. This 
variety is reported favorably from some counties, but generally otherwise, and is not 
largely grown. Ripens before Royal. 




Blenheim Apricot, Grown in University Orchard. 

Royal. — A French variety, and at the present time the leading California apri- 
cot. Of large size (when well thinned out), free stone; fine color and flavor; good 
bearer, and fruit ripens evenly, when well grown; a favorite with the canners and an 



Apricots of Foreigji Origin. 



259 



excellent variety for drying. Fruit roundish; large oval; slightly compressed; 
skin, dull yellow with orange cheek, very faintly tinged with red, and a shallow 
suture; flesh pale orange, firm and juicy, with a rich, vinous flavor. Commended by 
Souihern California iVurserymen's Association. 

There is a variety .somewhat grown in Sacramento and .SolanoCounties, sometimes 
called "White Royal," which is not liked by canners, because of its lack of color and 
flavor. 

Blenheim, or Shipley. — This is a promising variety in this State and seems 
to surpass Downing's description both in vigor of tree and size of fruit. John Eock 
modines Downing's description to suit California experience wilh this variety as 
follows: "A very good variety, above medium, oval; orange, with a deep yellow, 
juicy, and tolerably rich flesh; vigorous grower and regular prolific bearer." This 
agrees perfectly with the behavior of the variety in the University orchard at Berke- 
ley, where it is the best of twenty varieties. It is not reported so constant a bearer- 
in some other parts of the State. Fruit runs a little larger than the Ro)-al, and is 
usually better distributed on the tree, but it must be well thinned. This variety has 
-been approved by canners. Ripens a little later than the Royal. 




L.A.RGE] Early Mo.xtgamet Apricot. 

Hemskirke. — A fine English variety quite widely grown in California; ripens 
later than Royal, described by Downing as follows: "Fruit large, roundish, but con- 
siderably compressed or flattened on its sides; skin orange with red cheek; flesh 
bright orange, tender, rather more juicy and sprightly than the Moorpark, with rich, 
luscious, plum-like flavor; stone not perforate, rather small and kernel bitter." Es- 
teemed in California because the tree is more hardy and a more regular bearer than 
the Moorpark, and the fruit ripens evenly on both sides. 

Peach. — A variety from Piedmont of the largest size, about two inches in 
diameter, roundish, rather flattened, and somewhat compressed on its sides, with a 



26o 



Apricots Chiefly Groivn in California. 



well-marked suture; skin yellow in the shade, but deep orange mottled with lirown on 
the sunny side; flesh of a tine yellow, safiron color, juicy, rich, antl high-flavored; 
stone can be penetrated like Woorpark and has bitter kernel. This is a very success- 
ful sort in the warmer parts of the State especially. It rijiens just ahead of the 
Moorpark. 

MOORPARK. — A standard of excellence and an old variety which originated in 
England. Fruit large, roundish, about two inches and a quarter in diameter each 
way; rather larger on one side of the suture than the other; skin orange in the shade, 
but deep orange or brownish red in the sun, marked with numerous dark specks and 
dots; flesh quite firm, bright orange, parting free from the stone, quite juicy, with a 
rich and luscious flavor; stone peculiarly perforated along the back, where a pin may 
be pushed through; kernel bitter. In California the Moorpark reaches grand size, 
but has the fault of ripening unevenly in most localities. The tree is tender and 
bears irregularly, which leads to its rejection by most planters, though some growers 
cling to it because of its size and quality, and oic^'^'onal grand crop?. The San 
Jose districts lead in the production of this variety, and in some parts of the Santa 
Clara Valley the Moorpark seems to ripen uniformly. The same behavior is re- 
ported from localities in the upper San Joaquin A'alley, where it also seems to l)e a 
more regular bearer. The variety is almost wholly rejected in Southern California. 

Roman — Described by 
.-jfrTjl Downing as one of the larg- 

est growing and hardiest 
apricot trees, and bearing 
good crops where few others 
succeed: "Fruit middle- 
sized, oblong, with sides 
slightly compressed, with but 
little or no suture; skin en- 
tirely pale yellow, or very 
rarely dotted with a few red 
spots on one side; flesh dull 
yellow, soft, rather dry; 
stone oblong with bitter ker- 
nel." This variety is pro- 
nounced by the Southern 
California Nurserymen's As- 
sociation the best apricot for 
Southern California, and 
they announce that this 
is the variety which they 
have been largely growing 
under the name Early Moor- 
park. Ripens a little sooner 
than Moorpark. 

Turkey. — An old va- 
riety of medium size, round- 
ish, not compressed; skin 
deep yellow in the shade, 
brownish orange in the sun; 
flesh firm, juicy, of excellent 
flavor, inclosing sweet ker- 
nel; ripens after Moorpark, 
and commended by Southern California Nurserymen's Association as good for 
home use, but too juicy for canning or market. 

Breda. — A small, early apricot of exceptionally good flavor. Only a few Califor- 
nia growers speak favorably of its bearing qualities. 

Newly Distributed Varieties. — A number of old standard varieties have 
been recently propagated and distributed. Many of them have not been sufficiently 




St. Amiiuoise Apricot. 



262 Califoniia Seedling Apricots. 

tested to delermine value, but there are indications that they will follow the rule of 
the varieties generally grown and prove valuable in some situations and not in others. 
The Large Early ^lontgamet and St. Ambroise have been largely distributed by the 
California Nursery Company. They have been tested by John Kock, in his orchard at 
San Jose, and pronounced vigorous and productive. \. H. Thomas, of Vi-alia, reports 
the Alberge de Montgamet a fine, large apricot the best shipper he grows. A. T. 
Hatch, of Suisun Valley, has had such favorable results with the St. Ambroise on 
young trees that he is propagating it largely. The same varieties in some places directly 
subject to coast influences have not proved satisfactory. The Boulbon has been in- 
troduced by Felix Gillet, Albert Montpellier, and others, in the hope of securing a 
large early variety. 

The tests made in the University orchard at Berkeley extended over several 
years, and were reported by W. G. Klee, in the College of Agriculture, Report for 1S87. 
He mentions the following varieties as apparently unsuited to the locality, having 
produced but little fruit: Early Golden, Breda, Red Masculine, Turkey, Malcolm 
Breda. The Early Golden produced quite a large crop in 1880, but since that the 
tree has not borne ten pounds altogether. 

Varieties of California Origin. 

Pringle. — Catalogued by John Rock, as "of California origin, medium size, 
pleasant flavor, clingstone, ripening in May." This variety is only of account 
because of its being the earliest of the older varieties. It is not worth planting ex- 
cept for home use in any but early localities, and it will probably be wholly super- 
seded by better local seedlings. 
• 
Thissell's Seedling. — Originated in Pleasant's Valley, Solano County, and first 
grown in quantity by G. W. Thissell. A bright-colored clingstone, ripening just after 
the Pringle, and larger. Has been shipped East with good results. 

Eureka. — Originated in 1884, by I. H. Thomas, of Tulare County, as the 
earliest large apricot. Described by W. H. Pepper, of Fetaluma, in 1887, as the 
first apricot to ripen in his collection; of large size and good quality. Said to ripen 
two weeks earlier than the Peach. 

Newcastle. — Originated with C. M. Silva & Son, of New Castle, Placer 
County, in 1881; size, full medium, round; rich golden yellow, with brilliant red 
cheek in the sun; freestone; flavor sweet and rich; tree a regular, heavy bearer and 
healthy; fruit ripens before Pringle. Has been shipped to Chicago successfully. 

Smith's Triumph. — Originated with W. W. Smith, of Vacaville, who says of it: 
" The I'riumph is as large, or larger, than the Moorpark;, skin very thin; color a deep 
yellow, with orange cheek; flesh firm, rich, and juicy; separating freely from the 
stone, which is very small; ripens about ten days to two weeks before the Royal; 
tree a vigorous grower and very productive; an excellent shipper and canner, and 
heavy dryer." — Trumbull ^^ Beebee. 

Routier's Peach. — Originated with Hon. Joseph Routier, near Sacramento. 
Introduced and described by W. R. Strong & Co. as follows: "Large, yellow in shade, 
deep orange, mottled or splashed with red in the sun; flesh juicy and rich, high flavor 
and a good market variety." Commended by J. R. Springer, of Woodland. 

Finney's Peach. — Propagated and described by Luther Burbank, of Santa 
Rosa, as follows: " Exceedingly productive even near the coast; very large and hand- 
some, even larger than Moorpark, and best of all for drying." 

Goodrich's Peach. — Originated with O. O. Goodrich, of Sutterville, as seed- 
ling of peach, which it resembles. Ripens uniformly. Was in shipping condition 
June 3, 1887, and much larger than any other variety then ripe. 

Vestal's Moorparks. — Two seedlings of Moorpark originating with D. C. 
Vestal, of San Jose. No. i is large, round, yellow, with high color, almost red, 
next the sun; flesh firm, rich and juicy; fruit hangs a long time on the tree, which is 



California Seedling Apricots. 263 

a good bearer and vigorous, with large leaf and strong wood. No. 2 is a large fruit 
with sides somewhat flattened, rich, yellow color; flesh rich but not so juicy as No. i. 
The tree is vigorous and strong and a great bearer, being some fifteen years old and 
never has failed of a good crop. These are seedlings which Mr. Vestal selected out 
of several hundred because of their strongly marked growth from the start. A. Block, 
of Santa Clara, State Horticultural Commissioner, pronounces No. i a fine variety. 
No. I ripens about ten days earlier than Aloorpark; No. 2 ripens two weeks later 
than Moorpark, and is commended as a late variety for frosty situations. 

Allison Apricot. — Originated from seed of White Royal by Josiali Allison, 
near Vacaville. Commended by L. J. Harbison because of size, flavor, and freedom 
from overbearing. 

Brier's Royal Golden. — Originated with the late Rev. W. W. Brier, Cen- 
treville, Alameda County. Grown to some extent in Los Gatos District and said to 
bear often when others fail; large, yellow as Early Golden; tree has habit of Royal. 

Jackson's Seedling. — Originated on the farm of Andrew Jackson, in Fresno 
County, from a seed planted by Mr. Hyde. Described by W. A. Sanders in the 
j^«;v7/ A'ir.f.f, September 9, 18S2, as one of the largest and finest, flattened like the 
Peach, with brownish skin and dots of the Moorpark. It is seedling of the Peach, 
and like it has a bitter kernel. Propagated by I. H. Thomas, of Visalia, but his later 
experience is not favorable to it. 

Hinds' Seedling. — Originated with Mr. Hinds, of Visalia, and brought into 
notice in 1884 by I. H. Thomas. The original tree in that year was thirteen years 
old and bore one thousand pounds of fruit. Fruit as large as Moorpark, perfect oval, 
shapely, finely colored and ripening evenly; said to ripen two weeks earlier than the 
Peach, and a few days later than the Eureka. It is commended by several growers 
for its delicious, rich, juicy sweetness. 

Wood's Early. — Originated by T. J. Wood, of Riverside, in 187-. This 
variety was highly commended ten years ago for extra earliness combined with good 
qualities. Recent reports have not been favorable. 

GoRLEY. — Originated with Robert Gorley, near Freeport. Propagated by W. 
R. Strong & Co., and described as large and of good flavor. 

Christian's Moorpark. — Seedling of Moorpark by Mr. Christian, of Alham- 
bra Valley, near Martinez. Described by Prof. John Swett as equal in size to Moor- 
park and held to be even better flavored. Ripens evenly. 

Holliday's Seedlings. — A seedling originating with M. B. Holliday, of 
Martinez; size medium, flavor good; ripens fifteen days later than Moorpark. Also 
an early variety "equal in size to Royal and early as Pringle." 

Thomas' Late. — Originated at Centreville, Fresno County. Over average size; 
growth of tree similar to Royal; foliage similar. Ripens some two weeks later than 
Moorpark, and hangs well on tree before spoiling. It clings on one side of the pit a 
very little; a good shipper and valuable, as it prolongs shipping some two weeks. — 
/. H. Thomas. 

There are several other seedlings now on trial by their propa- 
gators upon which judgment is reserved for the present. 

TABULAR STATEMENT OF ADAPTATIONS. 

Upon the following page is a tabular statement embodying 
reports from apricot growers — the table being prepared in the 
same way as the tables of apple varieties, described on page 
244. 



264 



Apricots Chiefly Grozun in Califoiniia. 



TAKLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE APRICOT CONSIDERED MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES INDICATED. 



Counties 
OF California. 



Del Norte. . . 
Humboldt. . . 
Mendocino . 

Lake 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa, 
Alameda .... 
Santa Clara. . 
San Mateo. . . 
Santa Cruz 
San Benito. . . 
Monterey .... 
San Luis Obispo. 
Santa Barbara. , 
Ventura. . . 
Los Angeles . . 
San Diego. . . . 
San Bernardino. 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno , 

Merced 

Stanislaus. . . . 
San Joaquin. . 
Sacramento . 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa , 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada . . . . 

Placer 

El D. rado... 

Amador 

Calaveras. . . . 
Tuolumne . . . 
Mariposa. . . . 

Alpine 

Mono 

Invo 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE CHERRY. 



Although the amount of cherries grown in this State is 
small as compared with the aggregate weights of some other 
fruits, the cherry, from the growth of the tree and the size and 
quality of the product, is entitled to rank as one of the grand 
fruits of California. The size of the California-grown cherry is 
a matter of pride with residents, and a marvel to visitors. It is 
related that one of the most distinguished Eastern pomologists, 
who was taken to an Alameda County cherry orchard during 
picking-time, could not recognize the varieties, though he had 
himself propagated and shipped to California the very trees 
which were bearing the fruit, the size of which so far surpassed 
all his mental standards. And quality is commensurate with 
size. Whatever disagreement there may be concerning the 
flavors of our other fruits as compared with Eastern, the rich- 
ness and excellence of the California cherry have never been im- 
peached. 

Famous Old Trees. — The longevity and productiveness 
of the cherry tree in this State is naturally of interest. Cherries 
were planted in some of the earliest settled parts of the State 
and are still in full vigor. One of the most famous trees is a 
Black Tartarian, which was planted in 1852 or 1853, on the farm 
of Robert Hector, in Placer County, just below Rattlesnake Bar, 
on the American River, about eight hundred feet above sea level. 
It is described * as eight feet in circumference of trunk, about 
fifty feet high, and limbs spreading over a circle forty-five feet 
in diameter and yielding nearly two hundred ten-pound boxes 
of fruit. In the orchard of Dr. Tripp, at Wood-side, San Mateo 
County, there are also cherry trees planted in 1853 which have 
trunks over two feet in diameter. They were headed low and 
are still in full vigor and bear freely. John Capura, of Orovillc, 
has a tree of White Bigarreau now over nineteen years of age, 
nearly sixty feet high, six feet in girth of trunk, and is said to 
have borne two thousand two hundred and twenty-five pounds 



Pla.-er R;pHblican. May 26, 18S7. 



266 Localities for the Clierry. 

of cherries in 1887.* In General Bidwell's orchard at Chico, there 
is a tree of Napoleon Bigarreau sixty feet high, seven and one- 
half feet in girth, and twenty-five in length of branch, which, in 
1886, yielded one thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds, 
which sold at the cannery for five cents per pound, or $87.50 for 
the tree.-|- The same tree in 1887 yielded "almost a ton of 
cherries, which sold at an average of ten cents per pound, or 
almost $200 for the crop of a single tree.;): These are large 
trees of well-known cultivated cherries. In Bassford's Canyon, 
near Vacaville, there is a seedling Mahaleb, believed to have 
been planted in 1857, which has at least forty feet spread of 
branches and twenty-five feet high, the branches emerging low, 
growing outward, and drooping to the ground. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE CHERRY. 

The counties which produce the greatest amounts of 
cherries at present, are Alameda, Santa Clara, Solano, Napa, 
Placer, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, about in the order 
named, Alameda and Santa Clara together having more than 
half of all the bearing trees in the State. 

There has been an idea that the area adapted to the growth 
of the cherry is quite limited. The great valley was generally 
condemned, though at some points the trees grew well, but did 
not bear. Southern California, both on the coast and in the in- 
terior, was announced as unsuited for the cherry. Later ex- 
perience is recording successful growth and fruitage of the tree 
in many places where it has long been regarded a failure. It is 
rather early to attempt to determine the causes of the apparent 
failure, or to measure the area which present indications of 
success may cover. It seems likely, however, that much of the 
early disappointment may have resulted from lack of attention 
to the soil and moisture conditions which best suit the tree, and 
if this be true, much may be hoped for as the ultimate result of 
experiments now in progress. 

How far atmospheric conditions which are beyond control, 
influence the growth and fruitage of the cherry, cannot be fully 
determined. Even where these are plainly the cause of the 
trouble, there is still the hope of securing varieties of the fruit 
which have been developed under conditions similar to those 
prevailing in the interior of California. Prof. J. L. Budd, whose 
opinion with reference to the suitability of some Russian apples 
has been cited, believes that the Russian cherries, which are 



'Oroville Register, May, 1887. 

tDr H. Latham, in Record-Union. 

{Dr. C. C Parry, in Overland for June, 18S 



Soi/s for the Clierry. 



ibj 



largely grown in a region subject to high summer heat and dry 
air, will succeed in parts of California where the varieties origi- 
nating in west Europe fail. This suggestion should lead to local 
experiments. 

The errors in soil and water conditions, and which are sub- 
ject to correction or to avoidance, will appear in consideration 
of the wants of the cherry as learned by experience and ob- 
servation. 

SOILS FOR THE CHERRY. 

The cherry demands free, deep soil, in which water does 
not stand within about fifteen feet from the surface. It delights 
in deep deposits from old water courses, and does not dislike a 
moderate amount of sand. A loam underlaid by a sandy sub- 
soil is acceptable, but a loam underlaid by clay has shown 
its unfitness by the early failure of the trees, while those on deep 




¥M^a»;>^ 



Scene in a Cherry Orcharu, Sa\ Jo.->e. 

loam near by have remained vigorous and profitable. On the 
foot-hills it thrives in the light, mellow soil and fails in the tight 
clay either in soil or subsoil, as it does in the adobe of lower 
lands. The great cherry trees of Mr. Hector, in Placer County, 
which we have mentioned, are growing right in the bank of the 
American River, where the soil is a pure, sandy loam, in some 
places over sixty feet deep, as proved by an old shaft once dug 
near the center of the orchard. 



268 Conditions Favoring the Cherry. 

But though the cherry prefers a dry, rather than a wet soil, 
it is particular about its water supply and insists upon enough, its 
requirements being greater than some other trees. Thus the 
cherry growers in the famous Willows District, of San Jose, 
usually find it an advantage to give their trees an irrigation 
between the spring rains and the ripening of the fruit. In 
Vacaville, on a somewhat similar mellow soil, growers do not 
find irrigation necessary; the explanation is found in the fact that 
the rainfall at Vacaville has an annual average of thirty inches, 
and San Jose fifteen inches.* In the foot-hills of Placer County, 
where the rainfall is about as heavy as at Vacaville, the cherry 
usually requires moderate irrigation, because of the more rapid 
drying out which is characteristic of foot-hill situations. 

A similar contrast in local conditions is found in Southern 
California. Cherries are grown at Mesa Grande, in San Diego 
County, fifty miles eastward from the Pacific Ocean, and at an 
elevation of three thousand three hundred feet, without irrigation, 
but the soil is fairly retentive and the average rainfall thirty 
inches.-f* Mr. Gedney says: — 

I think the altitude cuts but little figure in the production of the cherry; it de- 
pends more on the quality of the soil and a sufficient annual rainfall, say an average 
of thirty inches per year. I'lant upon well-drained hillsides, no matter how rocky, 
providing it is not too rocky to cultivate. These rocks keep the soil loose, and the 
heat they gather through the day is thrown off at night, keeping the soil warm. 

But it is either elevation or character of soil which justifies 
Mr. Gedney to draw this conclusion for his locality, for thirty 
inches of rainfall will not alone irisure success everywhere, as 
has already been pointed out. 

These facts show that the cherry must have enough water 
or it will not succeed. On the other hand, there must not be ex- 
cessive moisture in the soil either from irrigation or by moisture. 
Cherry trees in Southern California, planted with orange trees 
and given similar irrigation, have failed utterly. Planting on 
naturally moist land in low places has also failed, and observed 
facts some time ago led to the conclusion that at the South 
the cherry should be planted on well-drained land, which could 
be irrigated (as the behavior of the tree indicated its need of 
water), rather than on naturally moist land, because of the likeli- 
hood of excessive moisture in such situations. More recent 
experience has declared the mellow, well-drained soils of the 
mesas well adapted to the cherry, and on such soils, when well 
cultivated, cherries have done well without irrigation at Pasa- 



* Report of Sergeant Barvvick, in report o'' California State Agricultural Society, i8 
t J. E. Gedueyj in Facijic Rural Press, Decembers, i8S8. 



lyii/er Trial of t!te Cherry Desirable. 269- 

dena, Pomona, and elsewhere. Mr. Gedney, who has had seven- 
teen years' experience at Mesa Grande, in San Diego County, 
writes: — 

I have experimented with the soil of the lowlands, second bench and hillsides, 
or slopes best adapted to the cherry, especially those having a northern or western ex- 
posure. These hillsides are rocky, no outcropping of ledges, but loose rocks from 
the size of a walnut up to quite large bowlders abound. The soil when wet is of a 
dark-iron color, and when dry of a dark gray color, and consists largely of mica, iron, 
and decomposed granite, with an under layer of a reddish clay; is very easily worked 
and not inclined to bake. 

Conclusions. — These facts form the foundation of a con- 
clusion that the cherry has been pronounced a failure in many 
places, because sufficient attention was not paid to the disposition 
of the tree with reference to so 1 and moisture conditions. The 
soil must be mellow and free. It must not be naturally wet, but 
still of a character in which well-distributed moisture can be 
retained by cultivation. Both dampness and drought in the soil 
are alike unfavorable. These conditions seem of greater im- 
portance than atmospheric influences, for near the coast, as at 
Petaluma, Santa Cruz, and Ventura, and in the interior, as in 
Kern and Tulare Counties, good cherries have been grown. 

Still, though it seems likely that there will ultimately be 
many cherries grown in parts of California hitherto thought 
unsuitable, large ventures should not be made without careful 
local experimentation. In such places a few trees of quite a 
number of varieties should be planted and treated according to 
the best judgment which can be formed of their requirements, 
and the results attained will be the besc possible guide to a future 
course. Large plantings for commercial purposes should be 
made in well-tested localities. 

In California, as elsewhere, the Dukes and Morelloes suc- 
ceed where the Hearts and Bigarreaux fail. The May Duke 
seems especially hardy, and bears well in Nevada, where other 
sorts fail utterly. 

Late Fruiting of Cherry Trees. — Though the cherry 
in favorable situations b^ars early, the grower, especially on 
strong, rich lands, will often have many years of disappointment 
from falling blossoms and fruit. During this time the trees will 
be making marvelous wood growth, and this apparently sup- 
presses the fruiting function. Usually these trees will ultimately 
bear when their exuberant growth declines. They can be 
thrown into fruit sooner by root pruning, digging a trench 
around about eight feet from the tree, and severing the roots thus 
encountered, or by summer pruning of twig ends. Because of 
this overgrowth, growers give such soil to the apple or the pear 
rather than the cherry. Sometimes the non-bearing of the 



2/0 Exposure and Ripening. 

cherry is inexplicable. Though everything seems to be right, 
and the blooms are profuse, the fruit will not stick. Some 
think it is due to lack of association of different varieties and 
cross fertilization. Fortunately, the phenomenon is rather rare. 

EXPOSURES FOR THE CHERRY. 

Exposures for the cherry are chosen both with reference to 
protection from frost injury and to early ripening of the fruit. 
Some situations combine these two considerations; in fact, the 
first is necessary to the second, but the second does not always 
accompany the first. The cherry blooms early; it is almost as 
venturesome as the almond. In protected situations, guarded 
from cold northerly winds, and open to sunshine on the south 
and southeast, the fruit advances to maturity very rapidly. In 
Vaca Valley, about a month of good weather after the blossoming, 
will ripen an early cherry. The most famous cherry growers of 
Vaca Valley, the Bassfords and W. W. Smith, went there from 
their old homes in Napa Valley, because they could gather and 
market cherries in their new locations before the same varieties 
were ripe in Napa. They both chose places protected on the 
north and west by steep hills. Mr. Smith's early cherry trees are 
but little elevated above the flow of the valley, but the steep bluff 
on the north protects them. Elevation is also an important 
factor to the same end, for on the top of the bluff which shelters 
Mr. Smith", the Robinson Brothers, and others, are competing 
with him for the distinction and profit of getting the first cherries 
to market. The two things to secure are, apparently, protection 
from the sweep of cold winds and elevation above the deposit 
of cold air, which occurs in depressed places. 

In localities where fruit ripens late, as near the coast, there 
is no need to seek forcing conditions, for the extra early varieties 
should not be planted except for family use. Early varieties 
are comparatively poor in quality, and will not sell profitably, as 
they will reach the market alongside of better later sorts from 
earlier districts. The place for the cherry in the later districts 
is on the most proper soil, according to the requirements which 
have been laid down, avoiding, however, so far as possible, wind- 
swept spots, and seeking amelioration of direct ocean influences 
by elevation or by intervention of hills and wind breaks. 

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING THE CHERRY. 

In the chapter on propagation is given a successful method 
of growing cherry seedlings, also the choice of stocks approved 
by California experience. 

The planting of the cherry is covered by the general con- 



Distances for Cherry Trees. 



271 



siderations already given for the planting of orchards. The 
distance which cherries should be set apart is a disputed point 
among planters. Mr. Hector, drawing the suggestion from hi.s 
mammoth trees, would plant them eighty feet apart on such soil 
as his, and thinks forty feet near enough on any good soil. This 
is the extreme of all distances which have been named, and 
looks to the needs of the trees a generation ahead. This is 
farther in the future than most growers care to calculate, and 
would prefer to let the coming generation cut out some of the 
trees if necessary. Still trees should not be set too close. Mr. 
Smith's famous orchard at Vacaville is planted twenty feet apart 
for strong growing kinds, and eighteen feet for less vigorous 




In the Cherry Orchard of \V. W. Smith, Vaca Valley. 

ones, but his oldest trees, though now but fourteen years old, 
have interlaced their branches, and the spaces between the rows 
have been covered in like colonades. In the Hay wards region, 
the branches of twelve-year-old trees set twenty-eight feet apart 
have nearly reached each other, though continually cut back. 
G. M. Gray, superintendent of the Rancho Chico orchards, 
advises planting the cherry thirty-three feet apart. 



272 Distance Dcpoident upon Pntning. 

Much depends in the matter of distance upon the manner 
of handling the trees. If the vigorous pinching or spur pruning, 
as practiced for years by VV. C. Geiger, of San Jose, and which 
will be described presently, be adopted, the trees can be grown 
much nearer together than where the usual way of cutting back 
for the first few years and letting the tree take its natural growth 
after that, be followed. James E. Gedney, of Mesa Grande, San 
Diego County, practices close planting and cutting back. He 
says: * 

I plant my trees twenty feet apart each way. My method is to plant thus closely 
and then keep my trees low, by cutting back every year; this facilitates gathering the 
fruit very much. I prefer this way to setting the trees farther apart and allowing 
them to attain too great a height. By the former method I secure fully as good, if 
not better, results per acre, to say nothing of the difference in gathering the fruit. 
Another advantage in keeping the trees headed low is that the wind does not affect 
them nearly as much as it does tall trees. 

Thus it appears that one may fix his distance in planting 
according to the method of pruning he proposes to follow,, 
remembering, however, that the cherry is naturally a large tree, 
and most old orchards are now overcrowded. 

As with other trees, orchard planters prefer trees with one 
year's growth on the bud in the nursery, because they usually 
get then a straight switch with well-developed buds all the way 
down, and the head can be formed as desired. For garden 
planting, older trees, properly pruned in the nursery, can be used 
to advantage. 

PRUNING THE CHERRY. 

All our best growers agree in the advantage of a low head 
for the cherry, and all aim to have the trunks from the ground 
up to the limbs literally covered all around with leaves, which 
completely shelter the bark from the rays of the sun. In planting, 
therefore, the side buds are carefully pi"eserved — not to be grown 
into branches, but to be cut or pinched back when they have 
come out a i&w inches, leaving just growth enough to clothe the 
tree with a covering of its own foliage. This was early insisted 
on by Mr. Geiger, of San Jose, and as we have mentioned it we 
will proceed first to describe his method of growing the cherry 
tree, as shown by the illustration upon the following page. 

The first figure shows the way unpruned young trees 
usually grow in this State, shooting upward quickly and expos- 
ing their stems to sunburn and borers. The second figure shows 
Mr. Geiger's rnethod of developing spurs from the ground up to- 
the head. These spurs not only furnish leaves to shade the 

* Pacific Rural Fress, December 8, 1888. 



Short Priming the Cherry 



273 



trunk, but soon become fruit spurs and bear well. But this 
figure also shows Mr. Geiger's way of shaping the upper part of 
his tree by carrying up a leader with a regular system of side 
branches. He- heads back at planting to two feet, pinching off 
the shoots below the head as stated, and allowing the shoots 
which form the head to grow larger, but they too are all pinched, 
except the leader, which is allowed to grow as long as it pleases 
during the summer. About February or March, for Mr. Geiger 

does not believe in pruning 
the cherry until the buds 
begin to burst in the spring, 
he cuts back the leader to 
about twelve or sixteen 
inches from its starting- 
point and cuts back the side 
branches to about six or 
eight inches. This is done 
year after year, cutting back 
and thinning out the side 
shoots,pinching the laterals, 
and allowing the leader to 
grow, never interfering with 
it until the spring pruning, 
and always letting it pre- 
dominate over the side 
shoots. By cutting short, 
wood is increased, but at 
the end of six years the 
tree goes into fruit very 
rapidly. As the tree in- 
creases in fruit it decreases 
in wood, and by the time it 
is ten or twelve years old 
there will be but little cut- 
ting to do, except to shorten 
in and thin out, and this re- 
quires some judgment and 
Natural and Trained Growth of Young experience, to know where 
Cherry Tree. to cut, how to cut, and 

when to cut. To shorten in, never cut down to an old fruit 
spur. It is very difficult to get healthy wood out of such; but 
whenever you can find last year's wood there you can cut with 
safety, anything that is less than one inch in diameter. 

This system of pruning is accompanied by constant 
pinching during the summer-time. It should commence when 
18 




274 Other Methods of Pruning. 

the lower shoots are about six inches long, and be followed up 
closely all through the growing season. Those on the trunk 
should never get longer than eight or ten inches, under any cir- 
cumstances. After these are pinched, let the trees rest ten or 
fifteen days, or until the branches in the top get a good start. 
Then pinch everything clean but the leader, in every main 
branch in the tree. The leader takes its own way all through 
the growing season, to prevent the effects of over-pinching or 
checking growth. If only the side shoots are kept back, the 
leader or head of the branches receives the current or flow of 
sap and maintains and carries on life and vitality in the tree. 
One object in pinching or spur-pruning is to keep back surplus 
wood and create fruit spurs, throwing all the little twigs and 
branches into fruit, thereby utilizing all the wood the tree can 
produce, not allowing it to grow at the tree's expense, and then 
have to cut it off. And another object in side shoot pruning is 
to make the tree produce fine large cherries, all closely nestled 
around the big wood, and no long, slim branches hanging down 
like a weeping willow. All such branches are always more or 
less sunburnt on the top and full of worms, one of the evils 
tending to the destruction of the tree. 

Mr. Geiger's method is commended to those who like a tree 
with a central leader, and are willing to give their orchards such 
constant attention as he does. His orchard near San Jose shows 
that his system is practicable; in fact, he has followed it for a 
life-time. 

THE USUAL METHOD OF PRUNING THE CHERRY. 

As we have said, all cherry growers agree on low heading 
and on the advantage of pinching the lowest shoots as soon 
as they make a bunch of leaves. In forming the head, and in 
after treatment, the usual method is quite different from that we 
have described. It follows the vase or goblet form, which has 
been discussed at length in the chapter on pruning. Of the ap- 
plication of this method to the cherry, W. W. Smith, in an ad- 
dress before the State Horticultural Society, said: — 

The cherry may be pruned the same as any other deciduous fruit tree, until it is 
about iive years old; after that the less pruning the better, except when necessary to 
cut out a dead or crossing branch. Pruning the cherry is more or less likely to pro- 
duce gum (and this, decay), and should be avoided as much as possible. Cherry 
trees, however, should be trained with low heads not to exceed eighteen inches from 
the ground to the first branches; fifteen inches is better. F~rom three to five branches 
are enough to form the head of the tree; all others should be removed early. 
Three are better than five; two makes a forked tree which is likely to split down 
in after years. 

At the end of the first season, we have a neat little tree with three to five branches. 
During the following winter, these branches should be cut back to from six to eight 



Grajting Old Cherry Trees. 275 

inches. The next season these should be allowed to produce two branches each 
(nonujre); then, at the end of the second season from planting out, we have a tree 
with Irom six to ten branches. The following winter the new growth should be cut 
back again to from twelve to eighteen inches — according to the amount of growth 
the tree makes — the less the growth the more you cut. The same process should be 
repeated the following winter, treating each branch as an individual tree, until the 
tree is about five years old; it takes at least five years to get the head of a cherry well 
established. After this, as some varieties will persist in throwing out branches near 
the ground, they should be removed during the summer. At this age, the tree, if 
well grown, will have top enough to shade its body from the sun, and there is no 
further need of branches on the main trunk. 

If necessary to remove large branches it should then be done in midsummer, as 
that is the only season when the gum is not more or less exuded. We make it a rule 
to go over, and dress up and prune our cherry orchard immediately after the crop is 
gathered — which in our part of the State is the last of May. All wounds made then 
by the removal of branches or otherwise will heal over the same season. All large 
wounds made at any time, however, should be coated over with a solution of gum 
shellac dissolved in alcohol to about the consistency of paint. This can be easily 
applied with a brush, the sarhe as paint. It hardens on the wound, and forms, as it 
were, a scab, and as the new growths are laid on it lifts up and finally drops off. 

The method thus described by Mr. Smith is that by which 
probably nine-tenths of the cherry trees of this State ai"e shaped. 
The engraving on page 156 shows a young cherry tree 
started on its course according to the method described by 
Mr. Smith. 

As already stated, Mr. Gedney, of Mesa Grande, practices 
continual cutting back of the cherry to keep the tree small. 
His practice is as follows: — 

At the time of planting I head back the young tree to about eighteen inches, 
thereby securing large, thrifty shoots below that point. This low heading I find very 
satisfactory, as the lower branches prottct the body of the tree from the sun's heat, 
thus preventing sun-scalds, gum-sores, and sap-souring. I cut back in February 
two-thirds the growth of the previous year. In this locality the cherry tree is inclined 
to grow large and very tall, say at four years, twenty feet high. I cannot let 
them have nature's way, or else all I could clo would be to stand at the base of the 
trees and look up at the too inviting fruit, and wish I had been raised by irri- 
gation that I might have grown correspondingly tall, so as to reach the topmost 
branches. 

In the cherry there should be the same observation as to 
cutting to inside and outside buds as with other trees; in fact, 
the outside bud is the rule, because so many varieties make a 
directly upright growth. In removing limbs, cutting to the 
collar, or swelling at the base of the limb, is especially important, 
also the covering of the wound with shellac or hot grafting wax, 
as mentioned by Mr. Smith, for the cherry is very sensitive to 
removal of large limbs. 

GRAFTING OVER THE CHERRY. 

Since canning of cherries began on a large scale, there has 
been a vastly increased demand for white cherries. The Royal 
Ann (a local name for Napoleon Bigarreau) has been the 



2/6 Diseases of the Cherry. 

favorite, but this position is now closely contested by the Rock- 
port Bigarreau. Other white sorts are also used for canning. 
This rise in favor of the white cherries has vastly increased their 
proportionate production as compared with the choice black and 
red varieties, which are still popular as table fruit. 

It is the experience of growers that the cherry is grafted 
over as easily as the pear or apple, if the tree is healthy. In 
large trees as many as fifty or one hundred grafts may be set, 
choosing the smaller limbs, even if you have to go pretty high 
in the tree. J. W. Cassiday, of Petaluma, advises grafting be- 
fore the sap begins to flow in the winter, or if not done then, 
wait until the buds are well advanced or the tree in bloom. He 
has trees which were over thirty years old before they were re- 
headed and they now have fine tops of new and healthy wood, 
and produce abundantly. 

PESTS AND DISEASES OF THE CHERRY. 

The disease of the cherry which is most heard of is the 
"gum," or overflow and condensation of sap, which, if left to 
itself, often induces decay of adjacent bark and wood. Without 
attempting to explain the cause or causes of the unhealthy exu- 
dation, it may be said that prompt treatment of certain mani- 
festations is desirable, and in others the tree should be cleansed 
from the flow. Where the gum exudes on the side of trunk or 
limb, the thin outer bark should be pared away with a sharp 
knife, the accumulation- of gum and sap removed, and the 
wound painted with the shellac and alcohol paint. Mr. Geiger 
uses for this purpose a mixture of two parts of resin and one of 
shellac melted together, adding a small piece of tallow to the 
melted mass. Gum in the crotch should be cleanly brushed out 
when softened by the winter rains. If allowed to remain it 
becomes sour and offensive, and may injure the tree. In places 
where two or three limbs come out close together a kind of cup 
is formed, which will hold the gum from one year's end to another, 
and, in its soft state, leaves, sticks, cherry pits, dust, a.nd dirt will 
stick and hang, and sometimes the mass becomes so foul that 
the stench can hardly be endured. By this collection, also, a 
nest is made for all manner of insects, bugs, and worms. 
Another evil in letting the gum stay on, is, if rain does not 
wash it off" clean, it runs down the trunk of the tree and makes 
the bark look bad, and if it is very thick on the bark when it 
dries it will contract and crack the bark crosswise, and is very 
injurious to the tree. 

Of the occurrence of gum in the crotch, Mr. Geiger gives 
the following interesting explanation: — 



Gophers and Insects. 



277 



In the forks of cherry trees there are two barks on the iftside of the wood, 
consequently there is a space of wood from three to twelve inches long that does not 
unite. This space or length of wood not united varies according to the age of 
the tree. Hence comes the liability to split open. The issuing of gum from the 
fork depends upon the relative position the branch sustains to the trunk of the tree. 
Thus in the acompanying illustration it is seen that it is the branches that grow 
nearly parallel with each other that gum the worst at the 
two barks, while those that grow more horizontally do 
not gum at all, because the wood is united, consequently 
there are two barks, the wood being solid. It is the 
same with those on the right of the illustration. 

The two barks are caused by the branches growing 
so closi together, and by the expansion of the large limbs 
in their growth the bark of both is forced in between 
the woods, so that it is impossible for the wood to grow 
to:;ether. The sap is forced in between these two barks 
and pursues a downward course until it arrives at the 
lower edge of the bark, where the wood is solid, and is 
then forced out of its natural place between the barks, and 
so finds its way out, and then we have it in the shape of 
gum in the fork of the tree. The cherry tree always 
issues its gum just under the bark, and not in the wood, 
as some people think. 

^^I2j^_^^^^_^ In shaping young trees a gumming 

SH|^^^^^|BI joint sometimes may be clearly cut out and 
l0^H^H|^fl those branches selected to remain which 
HSfi||HB^aH start out more nearly at a right angle; in 
^H^^QH^^I older trees there is nothing to do but keep 
^^^H^^^^^H the fork clean, as already described. 
j^^^^H^^^^H There are cases reported in which 

^^^^H^^^^l gumming of old trees has been stopped by 
^^^^H^^^^l allowing the ground to lie uncultivated, 
^^^^H^^^^l weeds being cut down with the hoe. Some 
^^^Kk^^^^^^ trees which persisted in making rank wood 
^^^^^^^^^^^ growth, and bearing no fruit, have been 
made fruitful by the same treatment. As 
a rule, however, the cherry thrives with 
good cultivation. 

The Gopher. — One of the most dangerous foes of the 
cherry is the gopher, for he seldoms takes less than the whole 
tree, young or old. Traces of his presence should be constantly 
watched for, and a little strychnine in pieces of carrot or melon 
dropped in his runway; besides poisoning, traps are used, and the 
gopher and squirrel smokers, which have been widely introduced 
of late, are successfully employed. If a tree is seen to wilt sud- 
denly, the probability is that a gopher has girdled it. Covering 
the wound with shellac sometimes saves the tree, but not usually. 

Insects injuring the cherry will be mentioned in a subsequent 
chapter. 



The Formation of 
Gum. 



278 Gathering the In-jiit. 

PICKING AND PACKING CHERRIES. 

Cherries should always be picked in the cool of the day if 
possible; pick with the stems on and take care not to break off 
the fruit spurs. 

Cherries are usually marketed in boxes or drawers holding 
ten pounds each; if drawers are used they are slipped in chests 
holding twelve drawers, or in crates holding four drawers. All 
packages should be neatly faced; that is, the first layer should 
be neatly arranged in the bottom of the box with the fruit ly- 
ing side by side and the stems upward. The box is then filled 
without arrangement and enough put in so that nailing on the 
cover will gently press the fruit without crushing. In opening 
the box the bottom is removed and the fruit appears smoothly 
and evenly arranged. In packing drawers a tin form is used, 
and when full, the drawer is inverted over it. Withdrawing the 
tin form leaves the faced fruit on top. Whatever kind of pack- 
age is used, great care should be taken in handling the fruit from 
first to last Packing cherries is quite an art, and but few per- 
sons can do it neatly and expeditiously. A lady with small, 
slender fingers does best, but it takes practice on the part of 
anyone to succeed well. All dust and dirt should be avoided as 
much as possible. Persons working with cherries, either picking 
or packing, should wash their hands frequently through the day, 
as there is on all cherries more or less gum, and this will collect 
dust and dirt. All parts of the packing-house should be kept 
well sprinkled down. 

VARIETIES OF THE CHERRY. 

Many varieties of the cherry have been tested in this State, 
and many have been abandoned from one cause or another. 
Those most frequently starred in our table are the survivors in 
public esteem. As our reports have come from those who grow 
for market, possibly some sorts too tender for shipment, but 
excellent for family use, are omitted. The claims to value upon 
which a variety is judged are several: Extra earliness, an im- 
portant consideration in early districts for shipment, and else- 
where for local sale or family use; firmness to withstand 
mechanical injury by jarring in transit and durability to escape 
decay during the long journey to distant markets; firmness and 
fixed color to stand processing in the cannery and to pre- 
vent coloring the juice; lateness to extend the cherry season. 

In classification of cherries it was originally considered that 
there were four classes of cherries. The Hearts were the tender 
and half-tender sweet cherries, while the Bigrarreaux were the 



Hearts and Bigarreaiix. 279 

firm-fleshed ones; but these have been so intermingled and 
blended together by hybridization that no distinct line can now 
be drawn separating them. There is really but one class of 
these, whose main characteristic is the large, vigorous growth of 
the tree. The Duke and Morello cherries, also wanting a 
natural division, really constitute but one class. 

In arranging the varieties most popular in this State, the 
above position taken by Downing has been followed. It has 
also been attempted to arrange the varieties approximately in 
the order of their ripening. From lack of opportunity to observe 
all the varieties named, the writer does not claim that the 
arrangement is exact in this respect. 

The brief descriptions of standard varieties are in the main 
condensed from Downing, modified, however, in some respects, 
by reference to experience and observation of California growers 
and nurserymen. 

In addition to the old standard varieties, a number of 
Pacific Coast seedlings have become popular, and others are 
very promising. Special description of these seedlings will 
follow the standard sorts. 

BIGARREAUX AND HEARTS. 

Early Lamaurie.^ — Fruit large, dark purple; flesh rich, juicy, excellent. 
Downing says a week earlier than Early Purple Guigne. Has proved the earliest 
cherry in the University collection at Berkeley, and in Vacaville District. Not fully 
tested as to regular bearing. 

Guigne Marbree. — "Fruit medium large, round, skin dark red; flesh purplish 
red, tender, juicy, delicate flavor." — Gillet. "Abetter bearer than Early Purple 
Guigne." — W, W. Smith. 

Baumann's May (Early Black Guigne). — Rather small, deep rich red, becom- 
ing rather dark when fully ripe; tender, juicy, tolerably sweet and good. 

Early Purple Guigne. — Small to medium size; purple; tender, juic)', and 
sweet. This variety is considered the earliest good cherry. It is reported a shy 
bearer in some localities. 

Belle d'Orleans. — Above medium size, roundish, heart-shaped; whitish yel- 
low, half covered with pale red; very juicy, sweet and excellent. 

Early White Heart. — Below medium size, rather heart-shaped; skin dull 
whitish yellow, tinged and speckled with pale red in the sun; flesh melting, sweet, and 
pleasant when fully ripe. 

White Tartarian. — Fruit of medium size, obtuse heart-shaped; skin pale 
yellow; stalk slender; flesh whitish yellow, half tender and very sweet. 

American Heart. — Fruit pretty large, heart-shaped, often nearly four-sided 
and irregular in outline; borne in clusters; flesh half tender, ;skin strong and adher- 
ing to flesh. 

Werder's Early Black. — An early variety, moderately productive; tree 
vigorous, spreading; fruit large, black, tender, sweet and excellent. 

Knight's Early Black. — "Large, black, tender, juicy, rich, and excellent; 
high flavor; a shy bearer until the trees attain age." — Robert Williamson. 

RocKPORT BiGARREAU. — Large, pale amber in the shade, light red in the sun; 
half-tender, sweet and good; a very excellent and handsome cherry; good bearer; 
highly esteemed for canning and shipping. 

Coe's Transparent. — Medium size; pale amber, red and mottled next the 
sun; tender, sweet, and fine. 



28o Varieties Chiefly Grozvn in California. 

Cleveland Bigarrrau. — A thrifty, strong, spreading grower, and productive; 
large; clear red and yellow; juicy, sweet, and rich. 

Black Tartarian. — Fruit of the largest size, bright purplish black. Flesh 
purplish, thick, juicy, very rich and delicious. Tree a remarkably vigorous, 
erect, and beautiful grower, and an immense bearer; the best of the black cherries. 

Governor Wood. — Large; light yellow shaded with bright red; flesh nearly 
tender, juicy, sweet, rich and delicious; a vigorous grower and very productive. 

Elton. — Large, pointed; pale yellow, nearly covered with light red; juicy, 
with a very rich and luscious flavor; one of the best. 

Black Eagle. — A very excellent English variety, ripening in June; large size, 
deep purple, or nearly black; flesh deep purple, tender, with a rich, high-flavored 
juice. 

American Amber. — Fruit medium sized, roundish, heart-shaped; skin thin, 
smooth, light amber, delicately mottled and overspread with bright red; flesh tender 
and juicy, but not high flavored. 

Bigarreau (Yellow Spanish, Grafiion). — Large; pale yellow, with red cheek in 
the sun; flesh firm, juicy, and delicious; one of the best, most beautiful, and popular 
of all light-colored cherries. 

Great Bigarreau (Monstrueuse de Mezel). — A foreign variety of the largest 
size; dark red or quite black; firm and juicy; late. 

PoNTiAC. — -Large; dark purplish red; half tender, juicy, and agreeable. 

Burr's Seedling — Large; yellow, shaded with red; sweet and rich; vigorous 
and great bearer; apparently does better near the coast than in the interior. 

OXHEART. — Fruit large, obtuse, heart-shaped; skin dark red; flesh red, half 
tender, with a pleasant juice of second quality. 

Napoleon Bigarreau (Royal Ann). — A magnificent cherry of the largest 
size; pale yellow, becoming amber in the shade, richly dotted and spotted with 
deep red, and with a bright red cheek; flesh very firm, juicy and sweet. Tree a free 
grower, and an enormous bearer. 

Tradescant's Blackheart (Elkhorn). — Large, heart-shaped; deep, glossy 
black; very solid and firm; dark purple, moderately juicy. 

Schmidt's Bigarreau. — "Anew Germanvariety lately introduced. The largest 
of all the Black Bigarreau cherries. Skin of a deep black color; flesh dark and very 
juicy, with a fine flavor." — ^John Bidwell. Reported thus far a shy bearer, by James 
Shinn, Alameda County. 

DUKES and MORELLOS. 

Early Richmond (Kentish). — An early, red, acid cherry; valuable for cooking 
early in the season. 

May Duke. — An old, well-known, excellent variety; large; dark red; juicy, 
sub-acid, rich. 

Arch Duke. — Fruit large, obtuse, heart-shaped; bright red becoming dark; 
flesh light red, melting, juicy, rich, sub-acid flavor; very good. Tree more upright 
and vigorous than May Duke. 

Late Duke. — PVuit large, flattened or obtuse, heart-shaped; white, mottled 
with red, becoming rich, dark red when ripe; flesh yellowish, tender, juicy; hangs long 
on the tree. 



Dukes and JMorellos. 



281 



Reine Hortense. — "It is one of the very largest of cherries; a Ijeautifiil, glossy 
red, or deep pink, when fully ripe; heart-shaped; a universal bearer, and when 
hanging on the tree, no fruit is more beautiful; excellent for canning, but too soft and 
juicy for shipment." — W. W, Smith. 




The Centennial Cherry — A California Seedling. 



English Morello. — Large; dark red, nearly black; tender, juicy, rich, acid, 
productive and late. 

GuiGNE NoiR LuiSANTE (Black Spanish). — Fruit medium size, round, heart- 
shaped, glossy, blackish red; flesh reddish purple, tender, juicy, rich, acid. 

Belle Magnifique. — Fruit large, roundish, inclined to heart-3hape; skin a fine, 
bright red; flesh juicy, lender, with sprightly sub-acid flavor; one of the best of its 
class; a fine table fruit when fully ripe; very late. 

PACIFIC COAST SEEDLINGS. 

Black Republican (Lewelling, Black Oregon). — "Seedling by Seth Lewelling, 
Milwaukee, Oregon, from seed planted in i860; first fruited in orchard in 1864. 



282 Cherries of Local Origin. 

Widely distrilnited in California. Large, black, sweet, with purple flesh; ripens ten 
days after Black Tartarian." — James Shinn. "Large, late black cherry, good flavor, 
long keeper; dries and ships well. Seems to succeed better on foot-hills than in the 
valley." — Robert Williamson. ".Supposed to be a cross between Napoleon Bigarreau 
and Black Tartarian, having the solid flesh of the former and the color of the latter; 
very late." — John Rock. " I am of the opinion that the Black Republican and Lin- 
coln came from the seed of the Black Eagle, but I have little idea of what variety 
they were crossed with." — Seth Lewelling. 

Lincoln. — Same origin as Black Republican; first fruited in orchard in 1865. 
Original trees of Black Republican and Lincoln are still sound and vigorous; the 
latter yielding, in 1886, fifty-two ten-pound boxes. 

Lewelling. — Originated by Seth Lewelling, from seed of Black Tartarian. 
Fruit deep, rich, cherry color; large, firm and fine flavored; late. Fruit picked July 
II, 1876, was sent to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and won for Mr. 
Lewelling the first premium. 

BiNG. — Originated by Seth Lewelling, from seed of Black Republican. " Fruit 
large, dark brown or black, very fine; late; a good shipping variety." — Seth Lewelling. 
Tree vigorous, and foliage heavy. 

Centennial. — A seedling of Napoleon Bigarreau, raised by Mr. Henry Chap- 
man in Napa Valley, and fruited by him for the first time in 1876. Propagated 
and introduced by Leonard Coates, of Napa, in 1885. It is larger than 
its parent, more oblate in form, and beautifully marbled and splashed with crimson on 
a pale yellow ground; exceptionally sweet and of remarkable keeping quality. De- 
scribed by Committee of American Pomological Society (18S5) as follows: "Size 
large, slightly oblate; amber, with dark crimson marbling; flesh firm, sweet, and rich; 
quality best; condition excellent (after crossing continent by mail), showing its good 
shipping qualities." " As compared with Royal Ann, the Centennial is more obtuse, 
heart-shaped; more mottled in its coloring, more meaty, more juicy, and yet quite as 
firm." — W. W^ Smith. " It has a smaller pit and more sugar." — A. T. Hatch. 

California Advance. — Originated by W. H. Chapman, of Napa, propagated 
by Leonard Coates, of Napa: Seedling of Early Purple Guigne, ripens one week 
earlier than its parent; is larger and of more obtuse, rounded form, and said to be a 
heavier bearer; dark purple turning black; rich and sweet, and of good degree of 
firmness. 

Purity. — Originated and propagated by same parties as above; seedling of 
Elton; beautiful, waxy, transparent; more rounded and firmer than Elton; ripens a 
week before Napoleon Bigarreau; seed small; tree prolific and regular bearer. 

Black Mastodon. — Originated and propagated as above; seedling of Pontiac; 
ripening with Centennial; size very large, whence its name; flesh firm; expected to be 
a good shipping cherry. 

Thompson's Seedling. — Originated in Napa County. Seedling of Black Tar- 
tarian resembling it closely. Tree hardier than I31ack Tartarian, and a better variety 
in some localities. " The best black cherry in the State; firmer than Black Tartarian; 
rich quality and a good shipper." — Dr. E. Kimball. "A shy bearer in Vaca 
Valley."— W. W. Smith. 

The Oregon. — Seedling of Napoleon Bigarreau, by H. W. Prettyman, of East 
Portland, and named by Oregon State Horticultural Society in 18SS; described as 
larger than Napoleon; firm, dark red; " fit to eat earlier than Napoleon, but coming 
to full maturity somewhat later." Introduced in 1888, by W. S. Failing, Portland. 

TABULAR STATEMENT OF ADAPTATIONS. 

The following tabulation of reports on the cherry is gov- 
erned by the conditions fully described in connection with a 
similar stateinent concerning the apple on page 244: — 



Cherries Chiefly Groivn in California. 



283 



TABLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE CHERRY FOUND MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES. 



COUNTIES 

OF California. 



Del Norte. . . 
Humboldt. . . , 
Mendocino . , 
Lake. ..... 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa. 
Alameda ... 
Santa Clara . 
San Mateo. . . 
Santa Cruz 
San Benito. . . 
Monterey .... 
San Luis Oljispo. 
Santa Barbara. . 
Ventura. . . . 
Los Angeles . . 
San Diego .... 
San Bernardino. 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus. . . . 
San Joaquin. . . 
Sacramento . . 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El D..rado... 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne . . . 

Mariposa 

Alpine 

Mono 

Inyo 



i . I 



284 



Cherries Chiefly Grotvn in California. 



TAHI.E EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE CHERRY FOUND MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES. 



o 


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H 


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entenn; 
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OF CALIFORNIA. «" 

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Del Nolle. . . i 




liuiiiboldt 




























Mendocino 




I 










# 






«- 








Like 




























Najja ^ 


^ 


^ 










•* 


» ■* 




* 


^ 


» ■« 


« 


Sonoma 




^ 












* 


♦ • 


* 




•« 




Marin 




^ 
























Contra Costa 




^ 










^ 






^ 








Alameda ^ 


¥- * 


^ 




^ 






.^ 






^ 




» 




Santa Clara ^ 




^ 




^ 






^ 




* 










San Mateo ^. 




^ 
























Santa Cruz 




























San Benito ... . 




* 


^ 








JJ, 




♦ 






» 




Monterey 


* 


„ 


^ 








JJ 






* 








San Luis Obisjio 




























Santa Barbara 






_ 






















Ventura 




























Los Angeles 




^ 










■M- 




^E- 










San Diego 




^ 
























San Bernardino 




























Kern 
























































Fresno 
























































Stanislaus 
































* 










^ 














Sacramento 
























































Yolo 




























Sutter 




























Yuba 




























Butte , 




























Colusa 




























Tehama 




























Shasta 




























Trinity 




























Siskiyou 






^ 












» 










Modoc ... . 




























Lassen 




























riumas. 






• i 






■ 




¥■ ■ 










Sierra 
























































Placer 




-■• 
























El Dorado ^ 




' 


. 1 






















Amador 




.^ 










* 




* 










Calaveras 




^ 




















» 




Tuolumne 
























































Alpine 




























Mono 




























Inyo 





























CHAPTER XIX. 

THE PEACH. 

The peach is the leading orchard fruit of California. The 
number of peach trees is greater than that of any other two 
fruits combined, or more than twice as great as that of any 
other single fruit. The peach was the first fruit to ripen on the 
improved trees brought here by the early American settlers, and 
the magnificence of the peach was consequently the key-note of 
the refrain which greeted the ears of the world in which the 
California gold-cry was ringing early in the fifties. In fact, the 
gold from the mine and the gold from the tree were very nearly 
related. In old Coloma, where gold was discovered, there was a 
peach tree which bore four hundred and fifty peaches in 1854, 
which sold for $3.00 each, or $1,350 for the crop of one tree, 
and in 1855, six trees bore one thousand one hundred peaches, 
which sold for $1.00 each. These pioneer trees are said to be 
still living and bearing fruit. 

LONGEVITY OF THE PEACH IN CALIFORNIA. 

There are many other facts to establish the claim that the 
peach tree, if planted in a suitable soil and situation and cared 
for with any devotion and skill, is not a short-lived tree in Cali- 
fornia. California is too young to mark the limits of its dura- 
tion, but there are numerous instances in the earliest-settled 
places in the State, where peach trees thirty to thirty-five years 
old are still vigorous and productive. At the San Jose Horti- 
cultural Fair, in 1886, G. W. Tarlton showed peaches from a 
thirty-year-old tree as good as any on exhibition, and Jacob 
Graves, of the same place, the same year, reported a crop of 
fifteen boxes (about four hundred pounds), from a tree of the 
same age. W. J. Pleasants, of Pleasants' Valley, Solano County, 
has peach trees from Kentucky pits planted in 1856. He says 
he sees no signs of death from old age in the trees; where they 
show weakness it has resulted from ill treatment. 

In favorable soils the peach is stronger and longer lived in 
the root than in the top, and sometimes triumphs over neglect by 
discarding its old, wind-broken, sun-burned and bark-bound 
branches, and forms a new head of its own. This is the reason 

(285) 



286 Early Bearing of the Peach. 

why the intelligent system of pruning which is now prevalent, 
ministers to the longevity as well the profitability of the tree, 
aiding it to constantly renew its youth by restraining its exuber- 
ance, and at the same time furnishing it sound new wood on 
which to grow its fruits and foliage. But while these are facts, 
there is some difference of opinion as to the point at which an 
old tree becomes less valuable than a young one. Along the 
Sacramento River some count about a dozen good crops as the 
limit, and thus replace the trees when about fifteen years of age. 
This is a point which may vary greatly, according to local condi- 
tions. 

Early Productiveness. — Quite as important as the 
longevity of the peach tree are the facts of its rapid growth and 
early productiveness. It is the first of our fruit trees to attain 
size and yield a profitable crop. Actual observations to support 
these statements are so numerous that it is hard to determine 
which is the most striking. F. M. Tenny, of San Jose, has five 
hundred and fifty peach trees, which, in 1886, two and one-half 
years from time of planting in orchard, matured eleven tons of 
fruit, which sold at $50 and $55 per ton, and vegetables had been 
grown between the trees. One tree which was measured was 
fourteen feet high, twelve and one-half feet in diameter of spread 
of branches, and ten inches in circumference of trunk. On the 
place of G. W. Thissell, in Pleasants' Valle3^ Solano County, 
the writer saw seventy-five pounds of peaches taken from one 
three-year-old Muir tree, and one hundred and eighty pounds 
from one four-year-old Lovell tree. These facts are stated to 
show what the peach of good variety will do in a good situation 
and soil and with the best of care. Of course, they are not to 
be taken as average results, although^ greater than those given 
are sometimes attained. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE PEACH. 

Nearly every county'in California reports the possession of 
peach trees. Above a certain elevation on the sides of the 
Sierra Nevada, they are subject to winterkilling, and lower still, 
careful choice of situation has to be made to avoid frosts at 
blooming-time — the peach in such places being subjected to some 
dangers which beset it in the Eastern States. Below these 
points, however, lies the great fruit belt of the foot-hills of the 
Sierra, where the peach is the chief fruit grown and its excellence 
is proverbial. Size, beauty, richness, and delicacy of flavor, firm- 
ness, vvhich endures carriage to the most distant markets, are all 
characteristics of the foot-hill peaches of California. 



Localities for the Peach. 287 

In the great interior valleys of the State wherever proper 
condition of soil and water supply can be found, the peach also 
thrives, the tree making a wonderfully quick and large growth, 
and the fruit attaining great size. 

In the small valleys on the west of the great valley atfd on 
the eastern slopes of the Coast Range, there are also extensive 
areas suited to the peach, and sheltered places on the eastern 
and western edges of the Sacramento Valley, have produced the 
earliest fruit for a long series of years. Recently the contest for 
the earliest fruit between these districts, the foot-hill district on 
the east side of the Sacramento Valley, and special locations in 
the Upper San Joaquin Valley, has been quite close. 

In what is called the coast valleys, the valleys opening upon 
San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the peach isalso a lead- 
ing fruit. Its success is greatest, however, where good shelter is 
had from direct coast influences. Even where open to these 
influences, good peaches can be grown by choosing the smaller 
range of varieties which do well, by protecting the trees from 
harsh winds, and by seeking elevation above depressed valleys, 
where frosts are frequent. The occurrence of curl-leaf is a factor 
of much importance, which will be considered presently. In the 
coast counties north of San Francisco Bay, the danger to the 
peach from unfavorable atmospheric conditions increases as one 
goes northward, and situations must be chosen with greater care. 
And yet by such exercise of care, peaches for home use and 
local markets can be successfully grown. 

South of San Francisco Bay the coast influences soften as 
you proceed southward, and the peach draws nearer to the ocean, 
choosing, however, elevations, and avoiding broad, wind-swept 
areas and narrow defiles where drafts and fogs are frequent. At 
considerable elevations, as on the Santa Cruz Mountains, some 
varieties of peaches are notably excellent. The general rule 
holds with the peach, as with other fruits, that coast influences 
retard ripening and the season of the fruit is late. 

In the interior valleys of Southern California the peach is 
largely grown and high excellence attained. 

SOILS AND EXPOSURES FOR THE PEACH. 

Though the range of soils for the peach can be somewhat 
extended by the choice of stock for budding upon, as will be 
considered presently, its range is narrower than that of the 
apricot. T-he best peach soils are light, deep, sandy loams, 
rather dry than moist, but under all circumstances well drained. 
It will thrive on land with a considerable mixture of coarse sand 
or gravel, providing it contain also needed elements of fertility; 



288 Injiuencc of Situation. 

for the rapid growth and heavy fruitage of the peach requires 
abundant nutrition. Though it accepts coarse materials both in 
soil and subsoil, it 'relishes fine sediment and perhaps finds no 
more congenial location than in the deep, sandy loam, or sedi- 
mentary deposit bordering the creek beds of our warm valleys, 
and will send its roots deep to secure long life and abundant 
fruitage. Such soils, whether along existing streams or de- 
posited by prehistoric water courses, which have left their mark 
by the elevated ridges of rich sediment above the prevailing 
valley soils, are warm, deep, and thoroughly drained, and delight 
the peach. 

At elevations on the hillsides there are free loams which 
result from decomposition of the underlying rocks, and on them 
the peach thrives, both where the soils themselves are deep and 
where the underlying rock is loose and open, permeable by roots 
and affording escape for water. Success has been reported even 
when holes are partly excavated in these rotten rocks, as in the 
soft sand rock on the hills east of Vaca Valley, or in the broken 
chalk rock in what is called Blackburn Gulch, near Santa Cruz. 
The superior warmth of such soils is supposed to minister to 
earlier ripening of the fruit, though the escape from cold air by 
elevation is no doubt a greater factor to the end. 

The influence of comparatively slight difference in eleva- 
tion is very marked. E. R. Thurber, of Pleasants' Valley, 
Solano County, has a plat of peach trees on a natural terrace 
about seventy-five feet higher than the general level of his 
orchard. On the terrace his peaches ripen and are disposed of 
before the same varieties ripen in the orchard below. 

As in the valley a short distance to water is to be avoided, 
so on the hills too great percolation from higher levels is unde- 
sirable. Of course, natural defects of this kind can be corrected 
by adequate under-drainage. 

Still, though such be the general soil conditions best suited 
to the peach, the tree can be well grown for home use or local 
markets on somewhat heavier soil, providing there is good 
drainage. Alkaline soils should, however, be avoided, as the 
peach, when grown on its own roots, seems to be of all fruits 
most sensitive to alkali. 

As to exposures for the peach the same rules hold as for 
other fruits which are liable to injury when in bloom or young 
foliage. Thus low places where cold air settles should be 
avoided, also low gulches through which cold drafts prevail. In, 
frosty situations, an incline away from the morning sun will 
often allow the trees to escape serious injury. 



Stocks and Distances for the Peach. 289 



PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 

The chapter on propagation gives the general method of 
growing and budding peach seedlings. In selecting pits, prefer- 
ence is usually given to those from strong-growing, yellow 
peaches, at least for working on the same colored fruit, while 
others use pits of the Morris White, others the Strawberry, and 
others still will use only pits from a vigorous seedling tree, some- 
times bringing them from Utah, where seedling peaches are 
abundant. In this State the peach is usually so healthy and 
vigorous, the " yellows " is not known, and less ca^e may be 
needed in selecting pits; still, there is certainly nothing lost by 
making every effort for a good stock. 

Dr. Strentzel, of Martinez, has always strongly recommended 
the use of the hard-shell sweet almond as a stock for the peach, 
claiming that it gives a hardier, stronger root, in dry soils espe- 
cially. His own long experience is in strong support to his 
position. Other growers have reported success with the stock, 
Dr. Chapin especially commending it as a stock for the Foster 
peach. 

When it is desired to grow the peach on moister soil than 
suits its own roots, the St. Julian plum is used. The Myrabolan 
is also used to some extent, but experience generally does not 
favor this stock, though commended by some. 

The so-called " peach-almond " has been used to some 
extent. It is a fruit having the pit of a peach but the pericarp 
of an almond, that is tough and tasteless and disposed to spit 
like an almond hull. Senator Routier, of Sacramento County, 
reports peach trees budded upon seedlings of the peach-almond, 
as having smooth, straight stems and fine, spreading tops. 
Trees bearing the peach-almonds are found here and there over 
the State. 

Distance in Orchard. — Distance observed in planting 
peach orchards differs greatly, according to the views of differ- 
ent growers. Regarding the peach as a catch crop to plant 
between apricot, pear, cherry, walnut, fig, or other slower-grow- 
ing, larger trees, the trees may be set comparatively close; that 
is, with the latter trees at thirty to forty feet, and alternate rows 
of peach planted quincunx, and to be removed at the end of ten to 
fifteen years. If the peach is to have the ground to itself, some 
planters plant at eighteen feet in equilateral triangles, or twenty 
to twenty-four feet on the squares, the present tendency with 
the peach as with other trees to give more room than was the 
custom a few years ago. 
19 



2QO Yearling Trees and Dormant Ends. 

Age of Trees. — In planting peach orchards yearling 
trees are generally used, although far more are planted in dor- 
mant bud than of any other kind of fruit trees. The reason for 
this is easily found in the disposition of the peach to make a 
tree the first year from the bud. It springs almost at once into 
a full outfit of laterals. Some growers, like Mr. Thomas, of 
Visalia, employ this disposition to form a head the first year in 
the nursery. When the bud has grown out eighteen inches, he 
pinches it off at the top and forces out laterals which will grow 
eight or ten feet the same season. When planted out in orchard 
the following winter they are cut back to ten or twelve inches. 
In this anyone can get a yearling with the equivalent of a two- 
year-old low head on it. The common practice is, however, to let 
the growth from the bud proceed as it chooses and when the year- 
ling is set in orchard, cut back to a single stem twelve to eighteen 
inches long. This occasions the removal of many strong laterals, 
and gives a scarred stem on which latent buds must be started out; 
this, however, is done freely enough. It is to escape this that dor- 
mant buds are taken from the nursery, and by this practice the 
head is grown on the tree in permanent place, and all desired 
laterals put forth the first year may be made use of. 

Planting Dormant Buds. — The chapter on planting 
describes the planting of yearling trees. The lifting of dormant 
buds from the home nursery and planting in orchard is described 
by P. W. Butler, of Placer County, as follows: — 

Have the ground prepared and stakes placed in position in the orchard in early 
February, if possible, and begin the planting at once, while the trees are in dormant 
bud. Take no more trees from the nursery than can be planted in half a day. Plow 
a furrow on each side of the row, six inches from the trees, turning the soil from them, 
then two men with heavy spades, or shovels, one on each side of the tree, can readily 
take it up without breaking but few of the roots; but what are so broken should be 
smoothly trimmed with a sharp knife. Place the trees in a tub of water, near where 
they are to be planted, and take from it only a few at a time. Put them in a basket 
or box and cover with a wet sack, that they may be kept moist until placed in the 
ground. 

On planting, place the bud one inch below the level of the ground, but do not 
cover it until after it has grown to the height of a few inches. The stock should be 
cut off at the bud with a thin, sharp knife, and not with shears, as it is often done, as 
the latter method will sometimes split the tree, when it will take in moisture and not 
heal readily. 

Some growers do not cut back the young tree until growth 
has started out well on the dormant bud. 

Rather more care is needed in handling dormant buds both 
in planting and in their young life in the orchard. Look out 
must be kept for suckers and against injury in cultivation. The 
method of shaping a tree from a dormant bud will be given 
presently. Success with dormant buds is notable. In good 



Pruning the Peach. 291 

hands they commonly outgrow yearlings planted at the same 
time, and the percentage of loss from failure of the bud to start 
is very small. Of course, every bud should be examined before 
planting to see that it has a healthy color. 

In the selection of peach trees for planting, a clean, healthy 
root only should be taken. During recent years there have 
been a good many young roots affected with knots or swellings 
from some obscure cause. Such trees should be burned. If 
planted, the knot sometimes grows to an enormous size and 
little or no top growth is made. 

PRUNING THE PEACH. 

As has been advised for other trees, the peach should be 
given a low head. In its after-treatment, it has been the uni- 
versal experience that constant " heading in " is essential to 
the strength and health of the tree. The methods of shaping 
the tree will be given in the words of two large peach growers, 
who speak from long experience. Take, first, the more preva- 
lent method, starting with a yearling tree. Hon. L. W. Buck, 
of Vaca Valley, proceeds as follows: — 

In planting yearling trees cut them down to about twenty inches above the 
ground, then allow only a few of the top buds to grow. The next winter, I remove 
all but three or four or five sprouts, those I cut usually from four or five or six inches 
long, and as straight across the top of the tree as possible. The object is to have 
three, four, five, or six branches growing; and the next winter I leave about a foot or 
fifteen inches. The object is not so much to keep the tree down as it is to stiffen 
those main limbs that start off from the tree. You will then have a good, stocky, 
healthy three-year-old tree, ready to commence bearing. Now cut the top back 
again the next year in the same way, leaving about the same length of new wood, 
and cut back heavier each succeeding year as the tree grows older. A great many 
make the mistake of trying to get peaches from trees too young, and in so doing 
leave too much wood; as a consequence, when the tree is four years old it is ten feet 
or more high, and the cutting back then has to be done and the grower loses the 
most of a crop worth a great deal more than the one he gains from the two-year-old 
tree. There is no danger of pruning a peach tree too much. Cut off nine-tenths 
of all the new wood and you will then have to thin your peaches. In prun- 
ing bearing trees I leave from four to eight inches of new wood, taking care to 
leave this on the largest, healthiest growth (as the largest limbs invariably produce the 
finest peaches), and cutting out unnecessary and decayed limbs. In this State nearly, 
if not all, varieties of peaches are inclined to overload, and it is only by very 
thorough pruning and thinning out that a peach tree will remain vigorous and produce 
a crop of fruit every year. 

There is an error that is practiced by orchardists, that is, in cutting off all the 
inside branches as the limbs grow up, and after a few years you have quite a long 
limb with no lateral branches. If you will retain the lateral branches you can cut 
back to four or five, or six or eight, inches, and still you do not cut it far enough to 
get a dead limb, the sap of which will eventually run down into the heart of the tree 
and kill the tree. 

This retention of bearing shoots low down in the tree is of 
the greatest importance. Leonard Coates, of Napa, describes it 
in this way: — 



Pruning for Bearing Wood. 293 

The peach requires a totally different method of treatment after it commences 
to bear than the apple or pear, for, as it bears only on one-year-old wood, the fruit 
buds for the coming season being formed while the fruit is still on the tree, catling 
back must be more severe, as the growth of new wood diminishes. Not more than 
five or six fruit buds should be left on a shoot, and if the fruit all sets, it must be also 
thinned. The trees should be trained low and their vigor encouraged by permitting 
a reasonable amount of young shoots to grow around the lower part of the main 
limbs. When this method is continued systematically every season, the trees will 
bear large crops of fruit, of good quality, for many years. When they are allowed to 
overbear for one or two seasons, the fruit will decrease in size, and soon become 
almost worthless; the trees will be enfeebled, and in consequence, very liable to be 
attacked by disease. The only thing to be done in this case is to cut off the whole 
top of the tree, allowing it to form a new head. I have seen old peach orchards thus 
renovated, and the results are often very flattering, but it is far better not to allow 
them to get into such a condition when this desperate remedy is necessary. 

PRUNING, PINCHING, AND SHAPING. 

P. W. Butler, of Peniyn, Placer County, has the reputa- 
tion of owning a peach orchard which for uniformity, symme- 
try, and general excellence of the trees, is not excelled in the 
State. He starts with dormant buds, as already stated, and his 
method may be acceptable to those who desire to secure per- 
fection of form in their trees, and are willing to take the trouble 
to secure it. Mr. Butler's practice is as follows:* 

As soon as trees which were planted in dormant bud have grown to a height of 
about two feet, their tops should be cut off at a height of eighteen inches from the 
ground, or at a bud or limb near that point. Cut all the buds from the lower part of 
the tree, leaving five or six near the top from which to select later, those to be used 
to form the head of the future tree. Some of them at this time may not have grown 
to a sufficient height to allow of their tops being cut, and they should be examined 
every two weeks until this is done. When the limbs have grown to the length of a 
few inches, select from three to five and pinch off the ends of all others. It is better 
to do this than to remove them entire, as this would lessen the capacity of the tree to 
take nourishment from the air. 

• When the limbs that are permanently to remain have grown to a length of fifteen 
inches, pinch oft" their ends, and those that are not growing in a proper direction can 
be brought into position and kept there by passing around them a band of cloth one- 
half an inch wide, and fastening to a stake set by the side of the tree and extending 
above it about one foot, drawing the limbs upward or downward, as desired. They 
can also in this way be made to grow at equal distances from each other around the 
tree, and care must be taken that the limbs continue to grow straight and at the right 
degree of inclination throughout the season, and all other growths pinched or cut 
back to within a few inches of the tree. 

At any time when convenient during the following late autumn, winter, or early 
spring, the trees may receive their first regular pruning. Carefully note the direction 
the limbs have taken in their growth, and when they incline too much downward, 
cut them off to a bud that is growing from their upper side; but if they incline too 
much to a perpendicular, cut to buds growing from the lower sides. If it is desirable 
to remove any of the upper limbs, cut them oft" close to the next lower one, never 
leaving a growth in the center of the tree. In case the spaces between the litnbs are 
not equally divided, cut to buds growing from the sides where the distance between 
the limbs is the greatest. By pursuing this course the tendency will be to direct the 
growth to desired equilibrium . When the limbs are large, they should be cut to a 
length of about fifteen inches, but less when they are small; and cut off all side limbs 
and all other growths entire. 



Pacific Rural Press, Februarj' 28, 1885. 



294 ^^^ Elaborate System of Training. 

The following summer after the the new limbs have grown to the length of a few 
inches, select three of the upper ones if the tree has three branches of last year's 
growth, or two, if the tree has either four or five branches of the older growth, and 
pinch back all other limbs, and continue to keep them shortened through the season. 
Each tree will now have for a permanent growth either eight, nine, or ten new limbs, 
and when they have grown to the length of a foot or more, take a hoop made from 
old baling wire that is doubled and twisted, and fifteen to eighteen inches in diame- 
ter, and place it over the top of the tree and put all limbs that incline downward on 
the inside of the hoop, and all others on the outside; then move the hoop up or down 
until it is in the position to give just the right inclination to all the limbs, and arrange 
them at ecjual distances from each other, and if necessary to keep them in place tie 
with bands of cloth, but not so tight as to interfere with their growth. See that all 
the trees are, throughout this season, kept in perpendicular position, or, better still, a 
little inclined to the direction from which comes the prevailing winds, as after this 
year the tree will have become so large and the roots so firmly imbedded in the ground 
that its position cannot be easily changed. Keep the limbs growing as straight as 
possible in the direction of thirty-three degrees from a perpendicular, and when two 
feet long pinch oft their ends, and liy the end of the growing season they will have 
become so large and strong as to need no further training of this kind, and the outline 
of the future tree will be beautifully and permanently formed. 

At the second pruning cut all the new limbs to a uniform length of eighteen 
inches perpendicular height, varying from this only when the tree is larger or smaller 
than the average. The trees will now be three and one-half feet high, or a little 
more, and each will have from eight to ten limbs of the latter growth, with some 
lateral branches, a portion of which may be shortened and retained, but remove all 
the growth on the limbs of the first season. Assist the trees to keep an upright 
position. For the third year is wanted two or three branches of the new growth on 
each of the old limbs, and continue to pinch back all other growths. When the 
new limbs have grown to a length of twenty-five or thirty inches, pinch off their ends, 
as a growth beyond that is not needed. 

At the third pruning cut the new limbs to a perpendicular height of two feet from 
the last cutting, and the laterals, when growing too far on the outside or inside of the 
tree, must be properly shortened, and when growing too near each other, or are im- 
perfect, they must be removed. Always cut off a limb so that the acute angle of the 
cut shall come just above, and close to a bud or limb; the new growth will then soon 
cover the cut and obliterate all signs of the wound; while, if the limb is cut so that a 
portion extends beyond a bud, it remains to decay or afterwards be removed byjthe 
knife. The tree after it is pruned will now be five and a half feet high. During the 
following season again allow only two to three branches to grow on each of the older 
ones, and inch off the ends of these when they have grown to the height of twenty - 
five or twenty inches, and also pinch back the longest growing side limbs, and remove 
them entirely when it is thought they will not be wanted for fruit bearing for the next 
year. 

At the fourth pruning, again cut to leave the late growth two feet high and the 
top of the tree flat, leaving the small lateral growth only extending above. Steps 
two and a half to three feet high are now needed, and they can be mad« from light 
lumber at little cost. The eye of the person pruning, when standing on the top step, 
should be a little above the level of the point where the limbs are to be cut, and with 
care the top of the tree can then be easily made level. Thin out the light growth to uni- 
form distances, and remove or shorten outside branches, that the tree may be kept in 
an exact symmetrical form. From the lower limbs cut the water sprouts and all dead 
or imperfect branches. The trees are now seven and a half feet high, and the follow- 
ing summer should have a crop of fruit that will bear down the outer branches, 
exposing the fruit to the sun, that will give it color and flavor, while it can nearly all 
be reached from the ground by a man of average height without the aid of a ladder. 
By this system of training there is little danger of the limbs breaking or needing sup- 
port, even if heavily laden with fruit. The growth of this season will cover the top 
of the bowl-shaped center of the tree, and the fruit can be more readily reached than 
from a tree grown in the usual irregular form. 



Thinning the Peach Crop. 295 

After this season the yearly growth will be much less, and only the longest 
limbs will need cutting back, but the thinning and removing of all imperfect limbs 
must be continued as heretofore. 

These methods of precise training may be thought unnecessary, yet it is well 
known that most people take a much greater interest in caring for anything they pro- 
duce that has unusual superiority. The tree that is perfect and uniform in its growth 
will bear fruit that is correspondingly perfect and uniform, and an orchard that should 
be in fruiting many years will pay for the extra expense incurred in this system. 

THINNING PEACHES. 

Thinning out fruit on the peach tree is not only the secret 
of obtaining good, marketable fruit, but it joins hands with prun- 
ing in preserving the health and future production of the tree. 
Young peach trees on good soil have really borne very heavy 
crops for a few years and have so overtaxed their own powers 
that wood growth is almost entirely checked. Sometimes, as 
Mr. Coates has said, in a quotation just made, the tree gets into 
such condition that its vigor can only be restored by beheading 
in the winter and forcing out new wood. The secret is to allow 
the tree to retain as much fruit as it can bring to large size, 
without preventing a healthy growth of new wood. 

Thinning should not be done until the fruit has well set, for 
sometimes conditions occur which cause much young fruit to 
drop. When this danger is passed, the fruit should be hand- 
thinned, not knocked off with poles, as is sometimes done. All 
double or triple fruits should be removed ; one peach at a bud is 
enough. Growers differ as to distance between fruits; some 
instruct the thinners not to leave them nearer than a hand's 
breadth to each other, others make the distance greater. Some 
growers have an estimate of what the yield should be according 
to the age of the tree, and thin down to it as closely as possible. 
F. B. McKevitt, of Vaca Valley, endeavors to reduce four-year- 
old trees to four twenty-five pound boxes each; five-year-old, 
five boxes; six-year-old, six boxes, etc. 

Not only is thinning of vital value to the tree, but the in- 
creased market value of the improved fruit far more than covers 
the cost of thinning. 

WORKING OVER PEACH TREES. 

The fashion in peaches changes from time to time according 
to the demands of the canners or the market for dried fruit. 
The grower often finds varieties which he first selected, less 
healthy, less productive, or, for other reason, less desirable than 
others. There is, therefore, often occasion for working over 
trees. This is often done by ordinary methods of top grafting, 
and with good success. Budding is also resorted to, buds being 
successfully set in quite old wood, providing buds from well- 



296 Curl- Leaf of the PeaeJi. 

matured wood are taken. Wood buds from young trees un- 
accompanied by fruit are best, but because of greater certainty 
of securing the variety desired, it is common to take wood and 
fruit buds together from bearing trees. A larger cut of bud and 
adjacent bark is taken when working in old bark than for use 
on seedlings. When a branch is budded it is sometimes broken 
at a distance beyond the bud and allowed to hang, the idea be- 
ing to furnish the bud some but not too much sap. Some grow- 
ers thus bud and break part of the branches, allowing others to 
remain unworked, to maintain the growing processes of the tree. 
These branches and those in which buds have not taken, are cut 
off and grafted the following spring. The almond is successfully 
grafted over with the peach, and this course has been followed 
with thousands of unproductive Languedoc almonds during the 
last ten years. 

DISEASES OF THE PEACH. 

Curl-Leaf. — The most prevalent trouble with the peach 
tree in California is the curl-leaf It was noticed from the first 
planting of peach trees by Americans nearly forty years ago, 
and has been a subject of discussion ever since, and but few 
things are definitely settled about it. Its cause is still obscure 
and always a bone of contention between peach growers. Fort- 
unately, enough has been ascertained to enable the peach 
grower to avoid its most serious effects. These facts may be 
stated as follows: — 

Curl-leaf is much more prevalent in some sections than 
others, and in one place than another in the same section. Some 
varieties are much more subject to curl-leaf than others; gener- 
ally speaking, some curl nearly everywhere, others curl in one 
place and not in another, others are practically free from curl in 
all situations. 

The lesson from these facts is that curl-leaf must be studied 
locally, and that the selection of varieties must be made with 
greater or less care, according as the location is subject or com- 
paratively free from the trouble. Nor can decision be given for 
wide areas, generally, because special places often differ greatly, 
even though within sight of each other. So far as the writer has 
data for generalization, it may be set down — 

First — That direct coast influences favor curl-leaf, the injury 
diminishing from north to south. 

Second — That, in interior and foot-hill valleys, low places, 
where damp, cold air settles, or cold drafts prevail, favor curl- 
leaf, even when slight adjacent elevations are comparatively free 
from it. 



Conditions Regnlati^ig the Disease. 297 

TJiird — That, the river bottom-lands of the San Joaquin 
Valley favor curl leaf, while on the great plains it is of rare 
occurrence. 

The foregoing considerations are geographical. Other con- 
ditions intrude, viz.: — 

Fourth — That the peculiar weather conditions regulate the 
prevalence of the trouble; some years the disease is hardly 
noticeable, even in regions most favoring it. 

Fifth — That in some regions usually free, unseasonable 
warmth in winter sometimes induces too early leaf growth, and 
curl follows. 

Curl-leaf occurs in various degrees. Mild cases do not seem 
to injure either tree or fruit; severe cases destroy the fruit and 
sometimes the tree itself The disease is always at its height 
about when the young fruit is about the size of small peas. If 
the curl is "bad " the fruit will fall to the ground, there not be- 
ing healthy leaves enough to afford the required support. If, 
however, the curl is moderate and partial, only a part and some- 
times none of the fruit will be lost. The disease, as is well 
known, is of brief duration, say twelve to twenty days, after 
which the trees resume a healthy appearance in every respect, 
and if the fruit has been able to survive the ordeal, it also 
appears to grow and become as perfect as if no check had been 
given to its growth. 

When trees are known to be subject to curl-leaf it is better 
not to prune them until after the disease has run its course. 

Local Observations on Curl-Leaf. — The following 
review of occurrences of curl-leaf, according to location, names 
those varieties which do not curl enough to endanger their fruit. 
The record is b}- counties: — 

PEACHES NOT INJURED BY CURL-LEAF. 

Humboldt. — Early York, Orange Cling, Briggs' May, Old Mixon, Early 
Tillotson. " In cold, northerly rains all varieties curl more or less." 

Mendocino. — " All varieties are affected by curl to some extent." 

Lake. — Alexander, Hale's Early, Early Crawford, Early Tillotson. 

Napa. — Alexander, Hale's Early, Early Crawford, Snow, Susquehanna. 
" Some years nearly all kinds curl." 

Sonoma. — Amsden, Alexander, Early York, Early Crawford, Honest Abe. 
*' Late varieties curl least, clings curl least." 

Contra Costa. — Alexander, Early Crawford, Snow, Smocks. 

Alameda. — Amsden, Alexander, Briggs' May, Early York, Early Crawford, 
Foster, Richmond, Honest Abe, Mary's Choice, Susquehanna, Salway. 

Santa Clara.— Amsden, Early Crawford, Foster, Stump the World. "All 
are affected after a wet winter, particularly when there are heavy late rains." 

San Mateo. — Many varieties are affected. 



298 Local Occurrence of Curl-Leaf. 

Santa Cruz. — Briggs' May, Hale's Early, Early Crawford, Honest John. 
"The earliest freestones and Late Crawford are freest from curl, but the disease on 
Pajaro Valley lands does not seem to disturb the yield of the tree or si^e of fruit." 

San Benito. — Nearly all kinds curl in a bad year. "Late clingstones curl 
least." 

Monterey. — All curl more or less in " curl seasons." 

San Luis Oiusro. — Briggs' Red May, George the Fourth, President, Early 
York, Early Crawford. 

Santa Barbara. — Early Crawford, Lemon Cling. The Strawberry only curls 
in bad years. "I can see very little difference in varieties." Late varieties curl 
least. 

Ventura. — Briggs' May, Hale's Early, Early Tillotson, Late Crawford. 

Los Angeles. — Amsden, Alexander, Briggs' May, Early York, Hale's Early, 
Early Crawford, Late Crawford, Coolidge's Favorite, Smock, Salway, Lemon Cling, 
Heath Cling. 

San Diego. — Amsden, Early Crawford, Early Tillotson, Strawberry, Foster, 
Salway, Ward's Late, Smock, December Cling. " Very little trouble with curl-leaf." 

San Bernardino. — " Curl-leaf rarely is seen and affects but few varieties." 
Kern. — " No rurl-leaf here. " 

Tulare. — "But very little curl-leaf in this region." " Have no curl on any 
variety tried." 

Fresno. — ^" No curl known here." 

Merced. — "Never had any curl-leaf." — Merced. "Some years curl-leaf 
destroys the fruit and almost kills the trees." — Snelling. The latter situation is on 
river bottom-land. 

Stanislaus. —'■Curl-leaf affects many varieties, but it seems to interefere but 
little with fruiting." 

San Joaquin. — Early Crawfords, Hale's Early, Foster, Susquehanna, Smocks, 
Free, Newington Cling. 

Calaveras.— Briggs' May, Alexander, Hale's Early, Parson's Early, Early 
Crawford, George's Late. 

Sacramento.— Alexander, Early Crawford, Heath's Cling, Smocks, Late Free, 
Honest Abe, Mclntire's Late Free. 

Solano.— Alexander, Early Crawford, St. John, Strawberry, General Grant, 
Mary's Choice, Susquehanna, Salway. " All varieties are free from curl seven years 
out of eight, and curl does not appear even on sensitive varieties at an elevation of 
one hundred feet above level of water courses."— Pleasants' Valley. " Never had 
curl here." — Putah Creek. 

Yolo. — Briggs' May, Parson's Early. 

Yuba.— Briggs' May, Hale's Early, Early Crawford, Late Crawford, Texas 
Ranger, Smocks. 

Butte.—" This locality is quitefree from curl-leaf."— Chico. " Occasionally a 
year in which there is considerable curl-leaf." — Oroville. 

Colusa. — " Never saw any curl-leaf in my orchard.— Williams. " Some 
varieties curl badly." — Colusa. 

Tehama. — " Curl only seldom appears." 

Shasta.— Strawberry, Early and Late Crawfords, Orange Cling, Smocks, and 
two unnamed seedlings. 



Mildeiv on the Peach. 



299 



Siskiyou. — Early Crawford, Early York, "Squire Gross, " "Cox's Cling," 
" Campbell's Seedling." " Curl-leaf is not sufficient to hurt fruit." 

Plumas. — "No curl-leaf noticed." Only middle season varieties are grown. 

Nevada. — Hale's Early. 

Placer. — Briggs' May, Alexander, Hale's Early, Early Crawford, Foster, 
Eemon Cling, Salway, Wood's Cling, Day's Yellow and White Free and Cling, 
Picquet's Late, George's Late, Jones' Seedling, Salway, Smocks. " Curl-leaf is 
rarely seen and follows late, cold, wet weather." 

El Dorado. — Crawford, Orange Cling. "Nearly all varieties are subject 
to curl when the spring is wet and cold; sloping hillside is necessary to success." 

Amador. — Early Crawford, General Grant. "All varieties subject to curl, 
but early varieties seem less in danger." " Peaches suffer most in wet seasons." 
" Trees on hillside suffer less than on bottoms." 

Tuolumne. — " Curl-leaf is prevalent and affects nearly all varieties some years." 

Mildew. — This disease, which occurs in the form of whitish 
felted patches on leaf and twig early in the spring, and finally 
affects the fruit, has been long troublesome in this State, and 
occurs on certain susceptible varieties in many localities from 
the coast to the Sierra foot-hills. Observation in this State has 





Characters in the Leaves of Peaches. 

fully affirmed the statement of Downing, that the serrate, gland- 
less-leaved varieties are liable, and those with good glands on the 
leaf stems are free. The engraving reproduced from Downing 
explains what is meant by these terms. 



300 Selecting Varieties for Special Purposes. 

" At the base of the leaves of certain kinds are always 
found small glands, either round and regular, or oblong and irreg- 
ular, while the leaves of certain other kinds have no glands, 
but are more deeply cut or serrated on the margin. These 
peculiarities of the foliage are constant, and they aid us greatly 
in recognizing a variety by forming three distinct classes, viz.: 
I. Leaves serrated and without glands, (3:. 2. Leaves with small, 
round or globose glands, I?. 3. Leaves with large, irregular, 
reniform glands, c." 

The conclusion would be that where mildew prevails, varie- 
ties with serrate, glandless leaves should be avoided. But it has 
been found that some glandless-leaved varieties, although sub- 
ject to mildew, resist curl-leaf Therefore it may be worth while 
to combat the mildew. This has been effectually done by 
thorough sulphuring. Mr. Klee advises three applications where 
mildew is apt to be bad, the first one very early in the season. 
It has been found that the winter spraying of the tree with 
washes containing sulphur for scale insects and peach moth, has 
also reduced the mildew. 

As with curl-leaf, mildew is prevalent some years and slight 
in others. 

VARIETIES OF THE PEACH. 

Nearly all varieties of the peach have been tried in Califor- 
nia, and as with other fruits, it has been found that varieties 
must be chosen with reference to their success in special loca- 
tions. Choice has also been made according to the purpose of 
the grower, whether for early marketing, for sale to canners, for 
drying, for distant shipment, or for late marketing. As with 
apples, there is little use of planting early varieties (unless it 
be for home or local use) except in very early regions. An early 
peach from a late region is killed by competition with better 
middle season sorts from the earlier regions. 

In an early region one can plant early, middle, and late 
varieties to advantage, and thus secure a very long fruiting sea- 
son. The peach season in Vacaville District begins at the first 
of June with the Alexander, and continues to the end of 
November with late local seedlings — giving six months of 
peaches. Of course, the very early and very late sorts are only of 
use for marketing as table fruit. The most important series is 
a fine succession of mid-season peaches, suitable either for can- 
ning, drying, or distant shipment. Such a selection can be made 
from the tables and descriptions which will be given later. 

Color is a most important item in the peach. While can- 
ners and Eastern shippers use the beautiful white peaches to 
advantage, the fashion for drying is now strong in support of 



Peaches Chiefly Grozvn in California. 



301 



the yellow-fleshed varieties, and as drying promises to be our 
widest avenue of profitable disposition of the peach, the yellow 
peaches are in greatest demand. The color about the pit is also 
an important point. Canners demand a peach, whether white 
or yellow, which is almost free from color at the pit, because 
the extraction of the red color dyes the juice; in drying, the 
demand just now is for a yellow peach with a red center, be- 
cause the colors give the dried fruit a more attractive appearance. 
Of course, there is a market for . dried, white peaches, but the 
preference is for the yellow. 

The following are the peaches chiefly grown in California, 
arranged approximately in the order of ripening: — 

Briggs' Red May. — (California.) Originated as a chance seedling in nursery 
row, on the farm of John G. Briggs, on the Feather River, about one mile from Yuba 
City, about 1S70. It was found to be about ten days earlier than the Early Tillotson, 
which was then the stand-by for an early peach. Fruit medium to large, round; white 
skin with rich, red cheek; flesh greenish white; melting, juicy, rich, firm enough for 
shipment; stone partially free; a standard early variety; subject to mildew. (See 
table. ) 




The Ulatis Peach — A California Seedling. 

Alexander. — (Illinois.) Most widely grown as best early variety. Fruit 
medium to large; greenish white, nearly covered with deep red; flesh firm, juicy, and 
sweet; bears transportation well; pit partly free. (See table.) 

Amsden. — (Missouri.) Resembles preceding, but averages smaller; claimed 
by some to be slightly earlier; rather less liable to curl-leaf. 



302 Peaches Chiefly Grozvn in California. 

Ula^is. — (California.) Originated near Vacaville, and supposed to be seedling 
of Alexander, which it is claimed to excel in size, smoothness of skin, firmness and 
beauty, and may be a few days earlier. — Propagated by Leonard Coates, of Napa. 
Approved in Solano County. 

Baker's Early. — "Large, pale yellow, blotched with red." — I. H. Thomas. 

Waterloo. — (New York.) Medium to large, round; pale green, marbled with 
red; flesh adhering partially to pit, greenish white, juicy, vinous. Not largely 
grown. 

Early Beatrice. — (English.) Small, handsome; quality good; small to sell 
well; ripens several days after Alexander; adheres partially. 

Governor Garland. — Large ("averaging seven and one-half inches in circum- 
ference." — John Bidwell); color rich, rosy hue; flavor delicious, and fragrance exquisite. 
Best quality of early peaches; adheres partially; approved in Solano, Butte, and Mono 
Counties. 

Early Rivers. — (English.) Large, pale straw color with blush cheek; very 
juicy and sweet; too tender for long shipment; freestone. Approved in Yolo, Solano, 
Los Angeles, and San Diego Counties. 

Yellow St. John. — (New Orleans.) Earliest yellow peach; averages smaller 
than Yellow Crawford, but classed as large; roundish, orange yellow with deep red 
cheek, juicy, sweet, and high flavored; freestone. Approved in Solano, Placer, and 
Fresno Counties. 

Hale's Early. — (Ohio.) Medium to large, nearly round; skin greenish, mostly 
covered and mottled with red when ripe; flesh white, melting, juicy, rich and sweet; 
fair for local market and shipping; widely grown; freestone. (See table. ) 

Parson's Early. — (California.) "Medium size, white flesh with red cheek re- 
sembling Hale's, and ripening about same time; freestone. ' — J. A. Anderson. (See 
table. ) 

Early Tillotson. — (New York.) Medium size, round; pale, yellowish white 
dotted with red and dark red in the sun; flesh white, melting, juicy and rich, adher- 
ing partially to the pit. Subject to mildew but free from curl-leaf. Reported a 
short-lived tree by some growers. (See table.) 

Strawberry. — (New Jersey.) Medium size, oval; stem cavity deeply sunk; 
suture extending half way round; skin almost wholly marbled with deep red; flesh 
whitish, juicy, rich and delicate; tree healthy. (See table.) 

Large Early York; syn. Honest John. — (New York.) Above medium, 
roundish; skin whitish, clear rich, red cheek in the sun; flesh greenish white, tender, 
melting, juicy, rich; freestone; does not curl. (See table.) 

Grosse Mignone. — (French.) Large, roundish, greenish yellow, mottled with 
red; flesh yellowish white, melting, juicy and high flavored and delicious; freestone. 
Approved in Butte, Santa Clara, and San Bernardino Counties. 

Red Rareripe. — Rather large, globular, broad and depressed; suture broad 
and deep, nearly around the fruit; skin nearly white with red dots in the shade, and 
rich dark red cheek; flesh whitish, red at pit, from which it parts freely; somewhat 
subject to mildew. Approved in Lake and San Bernardino Counties. 

Early Anne. — (English.) Small, round, white, with faint red cheek; flesh 
white to the stone, soft, melting and pleasant; flowers large, nearly white; subject to 
mildew. Approved in Amador County. 

Amelia. — (South Carolina.) " Large; white flesh, rather dry; small pit; dries 
and ships well." — L H. Thomas, Tulare County. Ripens before Foster. Approved 
in Sonoma and Tulare Counties. 



Peaches Chiefly Groivn in California. 303 

Foster. — (Massachusetts.) Uniformly large, slightly flattened; slight suture; 
stem moderately depressed; flesh yellow, very rich and juicy; color deep orange, 
dark red in the sun; freestone; tree hardy and productive; very widely grown in 
California and popular. Ripens before Early Crawford, which it somewhat resembles, 
but is of better quality. (See table.) 

Day's Yellow Free.— (California Seedling.) Large, yellow fiesh, cheek 
tinted with red; good market variety; ripens with Foster and closely resembles it. 
Approved in Placer, Amador, and San Joaquin Counties. 

Crawford's Early. — (New Jersey.) Very large, oblong, swollen, point at the 
top prominent, suture shallow; skin yellow with red cheek; flesh yellow, rich, and 
excellent; freestone; tree very healthy and productive; probably the most largely 
planted variety in California. (See table.) 

George the Fourth.— (New York.) Large, round, deeply divided by broad 
suture; sides unequal; skin pale yellowish white, dotted with red and red cheek; 
flesh pale, red at pit, from which it parts freely; quality good. Somewhat troubled 
with curl-leaf. (See table.) 

Royal George.— (European). Large, globular, broad and depressed; suture 
deep and broad, extending around two-thirds of the fruit; skin pale or white, 
sprinkled with red dots and deep red cheek; flesh whitish, but very red at pit; juicy, 
rich, high flavor; leaves serrate glandless; subject to mildew. Approved in Santa 
Barbara County. 

Richmond. — (New York.) Large, roundish, slightly compressed; suture slight 
but distinct to apex, which is a little swollen; flesh yellow, red at the pit, from which 
it parts; quality good; ripens just after Early Crawford; tree healthy. Approved in 
Alameda and Santa Barbara Counties. 

Snow. — (American.) Large, globular; skin thin, clear, beautiful, almost wholly' 
white; flesh white to the free stone, juicy, rich and sprightly. Approved in Napa, 
Contra Costa, Amador, and San Benito Counties. 

Mary's Choice. — (New Jersey.) Large, yellow, resembling Early Crawford, 
but ripening later. Approved in Alameda, Butte, Santa Clara, and Solano Counties. 

Red Cheek Melocoton. — (American.) Large, roundish oval, swollen point 
at top; yellow, with deep red cheek; flesh yellow, red at stone, which is free; juicy, 
good flavor. Approved in Humboldt and San Benito Counties. 

Bergins' Yellow. — (New York.) Very large, globular, depressed and broad; 
suture well marked; deep orange, with rich, red cheek, with faint streaks; flesh deep 
yellow, red at pit, juicy, melting, vinous; freestone. Commended as a market 
peach by Southern California Nurserymen's Association. Has been dropped in the 
Northern part of the State. (See table.) 

Tuskena. — (Alabama or Mississippi.) Wrongly called "Tuscan" and 
■"Tustin" Cling in this State; largely planted in interior valleys and foot-hills; very 
large, yellow cling; the earliest fine cling variety; very valuable for early shipping. 
Lately introduced and not widely tested, but promises well as a hardy, strong grower; 
ripens with Crawford's Early. Mostly grown in upper Sacramento Valley and foot- 
hills; approved in Los Angeles County. 

Gates' Cling. — (California.) Originated with J. W. Gates, Vacaville; color 
silver white, beautifully tinted with red; flesh white and firm; flavor delicate; pit 
irregular, but averaging large; size large, good specimens averaging one-half pound; 
tree very tender and subject to all ills affecting the peach, but thrives well only on 
first-class soil and under favorable conditions; fruit not good for long distance ship- 
ment, but cans splendidly if fresh from the tree. Awarded a silver medal at Me- 
chanics' Fair of 1883. Grown in Vaca Valley. 



304 Peaches CJiiefiy Grown in California. 

Shinn's Rareripe. — (California.) Originated with James Shinn, Niles; large; 
very dark red, almost purple; flesli while, red at the stone, sweet and rich; tree 
thrifty and free from curl. Ripens just after Crawford's Early. It is a good market 
peach. — L. W. Buck. Freestone. Approved in Fresno County. 

Reeves' Favorite. — (New Jersey.) Large, roundish, inclined to oval, with 
swollen point; yellow, with red cheek; flesh deep yellow, red at pit, which is free; 
juicy, good; popular for market and quality. Approved in Solano and San Bernar- 
dino Counties. 

Day's White Free. — (California.) Large; white flesh with red cheek. Ap- 
proved in San Joaquin County. 

Day's Yellow Cling. — (California.) "Very large, red cheek, flesh yellow, 
good market variety." — W. R. Strong & Co. Approved in Yolo and Placer Counties. 

Old Mixon Free. — (American.) Large, roundish or lightly oval; greenish 
or yellowish white, marbled with red; flesh white, tender, and excellent. (See table.) 

Old Mixon Cling. — (English.) Large, whitish with red cheek; flesh white, 
juicy and rich; high flavor; one of the best clings. Approved in Sonoma and San 
Diego Counties. 

Chinese Cling. — Very large, oblong; creamy white beautifully mottled; flesh 
white, juicy, and of high flavor. (See table.) 

Honest Abe. — (California.) Originated at Healdsburg, Sonoma County. 
Large, yellow with red cheek; best quality; ripens between Crawford's Early and 
Late. Does not curl. — James Shinn. (See table.) 

Morris White. — Large, oval; skin white with creamy tint when fully ripe; 
flesh white to the stone, which is free; melting, juicy, sweet, and rich; especially good 
for home use and canning; somewhat subject to curl-leaf. (See table.) 

Lord Palmerston. — (English.) Very large, whitish with pink cheek; flesh 
firm, yet melting, juicy and rich; grown for shipping by W. W. Smith, of Vacaville. 
Reported favorably also from Tulare and Placer Counties. 

Wager. — (New York.) Lemon yellow tinged with red; flesh yellow, rich, 
juicy, sweet, and excellent, having much the appearance and flavor of apricots; stone 
small and free from the flesh, quality best. (See table.) 

Wheatland. — (New York ) Large, roundish; skin golden yellow, shaded 
with crimson; flesh yellow, rather firm, juicy, sweet, and of fine quality. (See table.) 

Large White Clingstone. — (New York.) Large, round, suture slight; 
swollen point at apex small; skin white, inclining to yellow when ripe, dotted with 
red and red cheek. Approved in Santa Cruz County. 

Newhall. — (California.) "Originated with Sylvester Newhall, of San Jose. 
Very large; skin yellow, with a dark red cheek; flesh deep yellow, juicy, and a rich 
vinous flavor; ripens about one week before Crawford's Late; tree very hardy, 
healthy, vigorous, and not affected by curl; freestone." — John Rock, Santa Clara 
County. 

Stump the World. — (New Jersey.) Large, strong; skin creamy white, with 
bright red cheek; flesh white, juicy, and high flavored. Commended for family use 
by Southern California Nurserymen's Association. Curls somewhat in some localities; 
freestone. (See table.) 

Crawford's Late. — (New Jersey.) Very large, roundish, yellow with dark 
red cheek; flesh deep yellow, juicy, and melting; flavor rich and excellent; a popular 
and widely grown variety, but very subject to curl-leaf in some localities; freestone. 
(See table.) 

Thissell's Free. — (California.) Originated with G. W. Thissell; a large 
white peach with light red cheek; flesh juicy, rich, and white to the pit; quite widely 
distributed. 



Peaches CJiiefly Grozvn in California. 305 

Florin. — (California.) "Very large; yellow, free, ripens with Late Crawford, 
but superior in size and flavor; tree hardy, rapid grower, does not curl.' — Robert 
Williamson. 

Lemon Free. — (California.) Originated on Rancho Chico as chance seedling; 
bright yellow, freestone, lemon-shaped, and resembling Lemon Cling in size and 
color; clear yellow to pit; very juicy, exceedingly thin-skinned, therefore unfit for 
market, but excellent as fancy variety for home use; very beautiful when canned. 

Lemon Clingstone. — (South Carolina.) Large, lemon-shaped or oblong, 
having large, projecting, swollen point like a lemon; skin fine yellow; flesh 
firm, yellow, with rich, sprightly, vinous sub-acid; slightly red at the pit, which ad- 
heres firmly. (See table.) 

Baxter's Cling. — (California.) "Originated in Placer County and propa- 
gated by William Baxter. Very good; similar to Orange Cling, but earlier." — P. W. 
Butler. 

Orange Clingstone. — Large, round; suture distinctly marked and ex- 
tending nearly around the fruit, no swelling at apex, like Lemon Clingstone; deep 
orange color, with red cheek; flesh yellow, firm, juicy, with rich flavor; somewhat 
subject to mildew. Though largely grown, this variety has been largely supplanted 
by the following sub-varjeties, which are seedlings from it. (See table.) 

Sellers' Golden Cling. — (California.) Originated on the farm of S. A. 
Sellers, Contra Costa County, and introduced by James Shinn. Very large, rich 
golden color; tree healthy; one of the very best of clings; ripens with Late Crawford. 
Recommended by Southern California Nurserymen's Association, as a market peach. 
(See table.) 

Golden Cling. — (California.) Originated with A, T. Hatch, Suisun Valley, 
and commended by him as a canning peach. Approved by G. ^L Gray, Rancho 
Chico. 

Runyon's Orange Cling. — (California.) "Originated with Mr. Sol. Runyon, 
on the Sacramento River. Superior to the common Orange Cling. Runyon's 
Orange Cling has globose glands, and is not subject to mildew like the common sort. 
Fruit very large, yellow, with a dark crimson cheek; rich, sugary, and vinous flavor. 
Highly esteemed and extensively planted in the Sacramento region and elsewhere. "^ — ■ 
ohn Rock. 

Nichols' Orange Cling. — (California.) Originated by Joseph Nichols, of 
Niles, introduced by James Shinn. Large, yellow with purple cheek; flesh yellow 
and good. Tree healthy and a heavy bearer. 

Peck's Orange Cling. — (California.) "Originated at Healdsburg, Sonoma 
County. Improved seedling of Orange Cling, of Downing. Large, handsome, 
yellow-fleshed, free from curl; hardy, vigorous, productive, superior for market or 
drying; planted more extensively in Santa Rosa Valley than in any other." — Luther 
Burbank. 

Muir. — (CaUfornia. ) Originated as chance seedling on place of John Muir, 
near Silveyville, named and first propagated by G. W. Thissell, of Winters; fruit 
large to very large; perfect freestone; flesh clear yellow, very dense, rich and 
sweet; pit small; tree a good bearer and strong grower, if on rich soil, to which it is 
best adapted; free from curl in Vacaville District; fruit a good shipper and canner 
and peculiarly adapted to drying because of exceptional sweetness and density of 
flesh; yield, one pound dry from less than five pounds fresh. One of the best Cali- 
fornia seedlings. (See table. ) 

Stilson. — (California.) "Originated at Marysville.(?) Perfect in shape, very 
large; red cheek with crimson stripes; yellow-fleshed, more highly colored than 
Susquehanna; table and market quality excellent; ripens after Crawford's Late; 
freestone."— P. W. Butler. 
20 



3o6 



Peaches Chiefly Groum in California. 



Susquehanna. — (Pennsylvania.) Lar<je, nearly globular; suture half round; 

skin rich yellow, nearly covered with red; flesh yellow, sweet, juicy, with rich, 

vinous flavor; freestone; tree healthy. Very widely distributed and popular. (See 
table.) 

McCowan's Cling. — (California.) Originated with Dr. McCowan, of Ukiah; 
yellow cling; round, smooth outline; no suture, no red at pit, which is small; flesh 
firm, fine-grained and sweet; not much subject to curl; fruit apt to run small unless 
carefully thinned; reported an irregular bearer in Alameda County; liked by canners; 
approved in Placer County. 




The Muir Peach — a California Seedling. 

Grover Clevelani>. — (California.) Originated as chance seedling, with J. 
W. Gates, Vacaville; a yellow cling with dark red cheek; flesh very firm, golden 
yellow, with very slight red at pit; size large and pit small; flavor excellent; tree very 
hardy and a regular and prolific bearer; fine for shipping and canning; rather apt to be 

small. 

Lovell. — (California.) Originated as chance seedling with G. W. Thissell, and 
named by him in 1882; propagated by Leonard Coates, of Napa; yellow freestone; 
size uniformly large, almost perfectly round; flesh fine, texture firm, solid, clear 
yellow to the pit; tree a good grower and bearer; superior for canning and shipping 
and dries well. Said to curl in some places. Approved in Solano, Sutter, and 
Placer Counties. 

Mother Porter. — (California.) Seedling found by W. W. Smith, in door- 
yard of Mrs. Porter, near Napa, and propagated by him; yellow cling, almost as 
round as an orange; no red at pit, which is very small; very sweet; an excellent 
canning peach. Favored by several Vaca Valley growers. Apt to be undersized. 

RosEVlLLE Cling. — (California.) Originated in Placer County. Large, 
white, with blush next the sun; good for canning and shipping; liable to curl in some 
localities. (See table.) 

McIntyre's Late Free. — (California.) "Large, yellow, fine flavor." — Dr. 
Eisen. Approved in Fresno, Merced, Sacramento, and Placer Counties. 

Rosenberg Cling. — (California.) "Originated on King's River, in Fresno 
County. Large, yellow cling; superior to Lemon Cling; full bearer and thrifty 
grower." — L H. Thomas, Visalia. 



Peaches Chiefly Groivn in Ca/ifoj-iiia. 307 

McKe\'itt's Clint.. — (California.) Originated as chance seedling in apricot 
orchard planted by M. R. Miller, on place novvowned by A. McKevitt, Vaca Valley; 
nametl in 1SS2 by nurserymen who propagated it; a white clingstone; flesh very firm, 
fine-grained, sugary, and rich, high flavor, white to the pit; skin strong and fruit 
excellent for shipping or canning; tree remarkably strong in growth and free from 
disease. Widely distributed. (See table.) 

CrENERAL BiDWELi,. — (California.) Originated from a shoot from a peach 
root upon which an apricot had grown and died, on Rancho Chico. Named by State 
Horticultural Society, September 4, 1886, and commended for cultivation. Ripens 
one week later than Late Crawford and ahead of Salway and Piquet's Late. About 
the shape of the Orange Cling, but larger; very yellow with reddish cheek; flesh 
very solid, juicy, and rich; freestone and a small pit. 






...if^i . 




^"''^''ttte«M*>»' ' 




General Bi dwell — a laiiforxia Seedling. 

Ward's Late Free. — Rather large, roundish; white with crimson cheek, flesh 
white, juicy, and rich. Approved in Tulare and San Diego Counties. 

California; syn. EdwariPs Cling. — (California.) "Originated in Sacramento. 
Very large, round, regular; orange, nearly covered with dark, rich red; flesh deep 
yellow; flavor delicate, rich, vinous." — C. W. Reed. (See table. ) 

Brandywine. — "A seedling of Crawford's Late, and valuable for its large size, 
fine appearance, good quality, lateness and market value; fruit larger than its parent, 
and ripens ten days later. Tree a strong grower and productive." — John Bid well. 
Approved in Placer and Solano Counties. 

Jones' Seedling. (California.) Originated in Sacramento; very large; yellow 
with dark red cheek; good flavor; rather soft for long shipment, but good for canning. 
Reported favorably from Alameda, Sonoma, Amador, and Placer Counties. 



3o8 Peaches CJiiefiy Grozvn in California. 

Picquet's Late. — (Georgia.) Large to very large; round, sometimes a little 
flattened; yellow, with red cheek; flesh yellow, melting, sweet, rich and fragant; 
freestone; not subject to curl-leaf. (See table. ) 

Smock Freestone. — (New Jersey.) Large; yellow, mottled with red; mod- 
erately rich and juicy. (See table. ) 

BOQUIER. — (California.) "Freestone; very large; yellow, with bright red cheek; 
excellent flavor; good shipper." — W. R. Strong & Co. 

La Grange. — (New Jersey.) Large, oblong; greenish white, some red on 
sunny side; commended in Tulare and Butte Counties, where it is known as Silver 
Medal; not desirable in coast regions; freestone. 

President. — (New York.) Large, roundish oval; suture shallow; yellowish 
green with dull red cheek; flesh white, very red at pit, which is free; very juicy, 
melting, and high-flavored. Approved in San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, and San 
Beinirdino Counties. 

Salway. — (English.) Large, roundish oblate; suture broad, deep, extending 
beyond the apex; skin downy, creamy yellow, rich, clear, crimson cheek; flesh deep 
yellow, red at the pit; juicy, rich, sweet, vinous; freestone; a standard late peach in 
California; tree very healthy. (See table.) 

Phillips Cling. — (California.) Originated with Joseph Phillips, of Sutter 
County ; propagated by J. T. Bogue, of Marysville. Fine large yellow cling, no 
color at pit, which is very small. Exceedingly rich and high colored. Described by 
Mr. Skinner, superintendent Marysville Cannery, as the best peach he ever used. 

Crimson Beauty. — (American.) ''Large; creamy yellow, surface half covered 
with crimson; flesh white to the pit, to which it clings; showy and a good shipper." — 
I. H. Thomas, Tulare County. 

Hyslop. — (American.) Large, roundish; inclined to oval; white with crimson 
cheek; juicy, rich flavor; clingstone. Approved in Amador County. 

Persian's Cling. — (California.) "Originated in Visalia, probably from seed of 
Heath Cling, and a few days earlier than its parent; l^rge; clear white skin and flesh, 
the latter very sweet; commended for canning." — L H. Thomas, Tulare County. 

Heath. — Maryland. Described by Downing as the most delicious of all cling- 
stones; very large; skin downy, creamy while, with faint blush of red; flesh greenish 
white, very lender and juicy, with most luscious flavor. Best adapted to mterior 
regions, or places free from curl. (See table.) 

General Grant. — (California.) Originated with W. W. Smith, of Vacaville; 
very large, fine-looking; cream color, with red cheek, but lacks quality; clingstone;, 
tree healthy; approved in Napa County. 

Steadly. — (Missouri.) "Large to very large; white skin; flesh white at the 
pit, firm, rich, and good flavor; freestone. Produces very heavy yield of dried fruit." — 
L H. Thomas, Tulare County. 

Wilkin's Cling; syn. Ringold yJ/aw;;/;?//; C/m^.— "Seedling of Heath and 
ripening with it; a white cling of largest size; flesh white to the pit; sugary, rich, 
delicious; tree hardier than Heath and less liable to curl."^ohn Rock. (See table.) 

George's Late Cling. — (California.) "Originated in Sacramento. Large; 
white flesh, colored around the pit; beautiful, yellow color, striped and splashed 
with bright red; a very heavy and uniform bearer; a good shipper, and at its season 
of ripening there is no peach grown in Placer County that yields the grower so much 
profit." — P. \V. Butler. Subject to mildew in some localities. (See'table.) 



Peaches Chiefly Grown in California. 309 

Lyon's Cling.— (California.) Originated with W. M. Williams, of Fresno. 
Very large; white, flesh clear white to the pit. Commended by the Fruit Growers' 
Convention of 1884, as entitled to prominent place because of its lateness and good 
flavor. 

Hardy White Tuscany. {Dura cini 7>^j-rrt'«;j/ )— A very large white cling, 
probably as large a peach as exists; propagated by G. Tosetti, of San Leandro; 
clear white, with inclination to light pink on exposed side; flesh very firm, white to 
the pit; subject to curl -leaf. 

Hardy Yellow Tuscany. — Similar to above in size and quality, but of deep 
yellow color; does not curl. 

Albright's Cling.— (California.) "Originated with Mr. Albright near Placer- 
ville. Very large; yellow, with bright cheek, rarely equaled in quality and flavor. 
Described as larger, more highly colored, of better flavor, better shape, and the tree 
a more prolific bearer than the Orange Cling." — P. W. Butler. Approved in 
Placer, El Dorado, Butte, and Sutter Counties. 

McDevit Cling.— "Originated with Neal McDevit, of Placer County. Uni- 
formly large; rich, golden yellow, becoming red when ripe; flesh very firm and solid, 
superior in flavor; excellent shipper; tree good and regular bearer." — Robert William- 
son. Awarded first prize at the State Fair in 1887 and 1888, as grown by J. A. Rob- 
inson, of New Castle. 

Garey's Hold-On. — (Southern.) Seedling of Smock; large; pale lemon 
yellow; freestone; ripens ten days after Smock; valuable when late kinds are desira- 
ble." — John Bidwell. Useless in late regions, as on the coast and in Southern Califor- 
nia. 

Late Yellow Alberge. — (French.) Medium size, roundish oval; skin green* 
becoming yellow; flesh yellow to the stone, to which it clings; firm, somewhat juicy. 

Yellow Cobbler. — "New, large, yellow freestone; resembling Salway, but 
two weeks later." — John Rock. Grown in Vaca Valley. 

Levy's Late; syn. Henrietta. — (District of Columbia.) Above average size, 
yellow flesh, red cheek; late; clingstone. Approved in Placer County. 

Bilveu's Late October. — "Large; greenish white with red cheek; flesh 
whitish, freestone; tree a rapid grower and attains great size; prolific bearer; fruit 
ships well, and where it will mature no peach can take its place; does particularly 
well in the foot-hills." — P. W. Butler. Discarded in coast regions and in Southern 
California. (See table.) 

Buck's Seedling. — (California.) Originated with L. W. Buck, Yaca Valley. 
Large; finely colored; good quality; shipped East successfully. 

Buck's Prolific or Decker. — (California.) Grown for Eastern shipment, in 
Vaca Yalley, and reported favorably from Sutter County. 

Mrs. Brett. — (New York.) Medium, roundish; whitish shaded with dark red; 
flesh white, red at pit, which is free; juicy, melting, sweet, and rich. Approved in 
Solano and Tulare Counties. 

December. — White cling occasionally grown because of its extreme lateness, 
but hardly worth propagation. 

other CALIFORNIA SEEDLINGS. 

In the foregoing enumeration only those seedlings which have been commercially 
propagated are included. The writer has record of many others, some of them 
likely to rise to important place, which are reserved until after further trial. 



3IO Varieties Locally Coviniended. 

COMMENDED LISTS OF PEACHES. 

By Studying the foregoing data one can arrive at an approximate knowledge of 
varieties which have proved their adaption to certain localities. It may be well, how- 
ever, to present a few lists locally commended: — 

For Alameda and Santa Clara Counties;. — "A succession of fine yellow 
freestone peaches, curling little or not at all, and ripening in the following order: 
Early Crawford, Foster, Richmond, IMary's Choice, Susquehanna, Honest Abe, 
Jones' Seedling, Piquet's Late, Smocks' Late (Beers' Strain), and Sal way." — James 
Shinn. 

For Placer County.- — "A succession of varieties covering the whole peach 
season, from June to October: Freestones, Hale's Early, Foster, Day's Yellow Free, 
Susquehanna, Stilson, Salway, Bilyeu's Late October, Clingstones, Baxter's Cling, Al- 
bright's Cling, George's Late Cling." — P. W. Butler. 

For Upper San Joaquin Valley. — "Early Waterloo, Governor Garland 
(Yellow Freestones), Foster, Crawford's Early, Susquehanna, Muir, Crawford's Late, 
Jones' Seedling, Seller's Free, Mary's Choice, Salway (White Freestones), Steadly, 
Watson's Free, Silver Medal, Late Admirable (Yellow Clingstones), Rosenberg, 
Lemon Cling, Orange Cling, Seller's Golden Cling (White Clingstones), Persian, 
Ringold Mammoth, Lord Palmerston, Heath, Chinese Cling, Thomas Cling, Crim- 
son Beauty." — L H. Thomas. 

For Southern California. — Approved by Southern California Nursery- 
men's Association, lS86: For market and canning: Crawford's Early, Bergen's 
Yellow, Foster, Late Crawford, Orange Cling, Seller's Golden Cling, Salway, Smock. 
For family use the following, ripening about in the order named: Alexander, Early 
Strawberry, Hale's Early, George the Fourth, Stump the World, Old Mixon, Free, 
and Morris White. 

For the Vacaville District. — Reported by various growers: Governor 
Garland, Briggs' May, Alexander, Waterloo, Hale's Early, Yellow St. John, Straw- 
berry, Foster, Crawford's Early,.Mary's Choice, Reeves' Favorite, Lord Palmerston, 
Crawford's L-ate, Brandywine, Susquehanna, Honest Abe, Grover Cleveland, Gates' 
Cling, Muir, McKevitt's Cling, Roseville Cling, Lemon Cling, Orange Cling, Run- 
yon's Orange Cling, Seller's Golden Cling, Mother Porter, Lovell, Picquet's Late 
La Grange, Salway, Heath, George's Late Cling, Yellow Cobbler, Bilyeu's Late, 
Henrietta, Miller's Late Free, Thanksgiving. 

This list includes varieties covering the season from June I to December i. The 
last two named are very late local seedlings, of which only a few are grown. 

TABULAR STATEMENT OF ADAPTATIONS. 

The following pages contain tabular statements of varieties 
found most successful in growth, and commercially profitable 
in the counties named. As has been already stated in connec- 
tion with othpr fruits, these marks are affirmative and do not 
necessarily infer that these only succeed in the region covered 
by the reports, nor that all counties not reported do not grow 
peaches. The table d- es present, however, the varieties which 
now constitute the weight of the peaches produced in the State. 
They are arranged approximately in the order of ripening: — 



Peaches CJiiefly Groivn in California. 



311 



TABLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE PEACH MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES SPECIFIED. 



Counties of California. 



Del Norte 

Humboldt 

Mendocino 

Lake 

Napa . 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa. . . 

Alameda 

Santa Clara 

San Mateo 

Santa Cruz 

San Benito 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo. 
Santa Barbara. . 

Ventura 

Los Angeles. . . . 

San Diego 

San Bernardino. , 

Kern 

Tulare ■ 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus 

San Joaquin 

Sacramento .... 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Sha«ta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El Dorado 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne 

Mariposa 

Alpine 

Mono 

[nyo 



3I. 



Peaches CJiiefiy Groiun in California. 



TABLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE PEACH MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES SPECIFIED. 



CouNiiEs OF California. 



Del Norte 

Humboldt 

Mendocino . . . . 

Lake 

Napa 

Sonomr 

Marin 

Contra Costa. . . . 

Alameda 

Santa Clara. . . . . 

San Mateo 

Santa Cruz . . 

San Benito 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo. 
Santa Barbara. . . 

A'entura 

Los Angeles. . . . 

San Diego 

San Bernardino. 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus. 

San Joaquin 

Sacramento . . . . 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou . . 

^lodoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El Dorado 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne 

Mariposa 

Alpine 

Mono 

Invo 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE NECTARINE. 

The nectarine reaches perfection under California condi- 
tions, as does its close relative, the peach. The fruit is, in fact, 
as Downing says, only a variety of the peach with a smooth 
skin; only a distinct, accidental variety of the peach; and this is 
rendered quite certain, since there are several well-known ex- 
amples on record of both peaches and nectarines having been 
produced on the same branch. Nectarine pits usually produce 
nectarines again, but they occasionally produce peaches. Peach 
seeds occasionally produce nectarines; the Boston variety origi- 
nated from a peach stone.* All these facts which are recorded of 
the relation between the peach and nectarine have been verified 
by California observation. 

The practice of growing nectarines is also exactly like that 
employed with the peach. It is propagated and pruned in the 
same wa\'s, and it is affected by the same diseases. It is the same in 
its natural adaptations and requirements, so that what has been 
given concerning the growth of the peach in this State has an 
apt application in the case of the nectarine. 

The success of the nectarine worked on almond stock, as has 
been demonstrated by the experience of many, has led to the 
grafting over of a good many unprofitable almond trees to 
nectarine, though this has not been done to the extent to which 
the French prune and some other plums have been worked on 
old almond stocks. 

Comparative Production of Nectarine and Peach. 
— It may be wondered, considering the similarity of the peach 
and the nectarine, why the former is our leading fruit and the 
latter is the least grown, but one, of all the temperate zone 
fruits, only the lowly quince being less in importance. The 
explanation is that the fruit buyer, both in California and at the 
East, prefers the peach, whether it be fresh, or canned, or dried, 
and some of those who have tried even a few acres of nectarines 
have found many occasions to wish the ground had been given to 
peaches. How much of this preference is due to lack of knowl- 
edge of the nectarine, and how much to its somewhat different 
flavor, it would be difficult to accurately determine. 



*'' Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees," p. 565. 

(313) 



314 Popular Opinion of tlie Nectarine. 

It is altogether probable that the nectarine will advance in 
popular favor. This has been prophesied for some years, it is 
true, the expectation being based upon the wonderful excellence 
of the nectarine as grown in our interior valleys, and the passing 
beauty of the amber translucency of the dried nectarine, both 
when sun-dried in the interior, and when produced by machine 
evaporators. The excellence of the canned nectarine has also 
figured in the anticipation. It must, however, be acknowledged 
that anticipation has not yet been largely realized, for it is esti- 
mated that the amount of dried nectarines is but five per cent, 
and of canned nectarines considerably less than two per cent, 
of the respective forms of peaches. Nor does the demand call 
for change in this proportion, for there is a slight advantage in 
the market value of the peach even in its great preponderance 
of supply. Still, it is true that the nectarine is slowly growing 
in favor, and there are many who are very confident that it will 
in the future rank much higher in the California fruit product. 
It would please growers and fruit driers and canners to popular- 
ize the nectarine, for its smooth skin makes it as easy to handle 
as an apricot, and the beauty of the product, which certainly ex- 
ceeds that of the peach, and is rather more easily attained, is 
very gratifying to the producer. 

VARIETIES OF THE NECTARINE. 

Varieties of the nectarine, as of the peach, show different 
local adaptations, and are valued by growers accordingly. The 
varieties grown are, however, comparatively few. The following 
have been found most satisfactory in California; the descriptions 
are somewhat condensed from Downing's treatise, modified to 
suit local growth, and arranged approximately in the order of 
the ripening of the varieties. 

Lord Napier. — (English.) Large, pale cream color with dark red cheek; 
flesh white, melting, tender, and juicy, separating freely from stone; leaf glands 
reniform and flowers large. Especially commended by I. H. Thomas, of Tulare 
County, as a heavy and regular bearer 

PiTMASTON Orange. — (English.) Tree vigorous, leaves with globose glands, 
flowers large; fruit large, roundish oval, base toward the stem broad, and top nar- 
row, ending in acute, swollen point; skin rich orange yellow, with dark reddish 
brown cheel<, streaked at the union of the two colors; flesh deep yellow, red at the 
stone, melting, juicy, rich, sweet, and good flavor; pit small and free. Reported as 
making heavy yield of dried fruit. 

ViOLETTE Hative. — (French.) Leaves with reniform glands, flowers rather 
small; fruit large, roundish, skin pale, yellowish green in the shade, but when exposed 
nearly covered with dark purplish red, mottled with pale brown dots; flesh whitish, but 
much rayed with red at the stone; flesh melting, juicy, rich and high flavored. This 
variety has too much color to commend it for ordinary California uses, but is com- 
mended by some growers. 



Nectarines Grown in California. 315 

DowNTON. — (English.) Leaves with reniform glands, flowers small; fruit 
large, roundish oval, skin pale green, with deep, violet red cheek; flesh pale green, 
slightly red at the stone, which is free; melting, rich and very good. Favorably re- 
ported from Santa Barbara, San Joacjuin and Butte Counties. 

Elruge. — (English.) Leaves with reniform glands, and flowers small; fruit 
medium size, roundish oval, suture slight, except at the top, where it is distinctly 
marked; skin pale green, deep violet in the sun, or blood red with minute brownish 
specks; flesh pale green to the stone, which is free, of oval shape, rough and pale 
color. Favorably reported from Napa and Tulare Counties. 

Early Newington. (English.) Leaves serrated without glands, flowers 
large; fruit large, roundish ovate, a little enlarged on one side, and terminating with 
an acute, swollen point; skin pale green, but nearly covered with bright red and 
coated with thin bloom; flesh greenish white, but deep red at stone, which adheres 
closely; juicy, sugary, rich, and excellent. Favorably reported from Los Angeles, 
Fresno, and Butte Counties. 

Hardwicke. — (English.) Leaves with globose glands; fruit very large, round- 
ish, inclining to oval; skin pale green, with deep violet red cheek; flesh pale green, 
slightly marked with red at the stone, melting, rich, and high flavored; freestone. 
This variety is a favorite in Southern California, being described by the Southern 
California Nurserymen's Association, as being the only satisfactory bearer. In 
some locations, however, some other varieties do well, but cannot be generally 
commended, as is the Flardwicke. 

Boston. — Raised from a peach stone by T, Lewis, of Boston; tree hardy and 
productive; leaves with globose glands; flowers small; fruit large and handsome, 
roundish oval; bright yellow, with deep red cheek; flesh yellow to the stone (which 
is small and pointed), sweet, though not rich, with pleasant and peculiar flavor; free- 
stone; a general favorite in California. 

New White; syn. Large IVhite. — Leaves with reniform glands; flowers large; 
fruit rather large, nearly round; skin white with occasionally slight tinge of red; flesh 
white, tender, very juicy, with rich, vinous flavor; stone small and free; commended 
wherever nectarines are grown in California. 

Red Roman. — Leaves with reniform glands, flowers large; fruit large, roundish, 
little flattened at the top; skin greenish yellow, with brownish, muddy, red cheek, 
somewhat rough and marked with brown specks; flesh firm, greenish yellow, deep 
red at the stone, juicy, and rich. Commended in Lake, Ventura, Los x\ngeles, San 
Bernardino, Kern, Tulare, Sacramento, Colusa, Tehama, Placer, and Amador 
Counties. 

Stanwick. — Originated in England from seed brought from Syria; large, 
roundish oval, slightly heart-shaped at base; skin pale, greenish white, shaded 
into deep, rich violet in the sun; flesh white, tender, juicy, rich, sugary, and delicious. 
Commended in El Dorado and San Joaquin Counties. 

CALIF-ORNIA SEEDLING NECTARINES. 

Dodd's. — Originated from the seed in Tulare County and described by L H. 
Thomas: "A large freestone; white flesh, red cheek, and fully three weeks later than 
all other varieties, ripening here from September i to September 15." 

Smith's Seedling. — Originated with W. W. Smith, of Vaca \'alley. and 
planted to some extent in the neighborhood as a fine drying nectarine. 

Yo Semite. — A seedling nectarine from a peach pit reported from the Yo Semite 
Valley, by J. A. Hennessey, and described as extra large; dark red with golden, 
yellow flesh, pit large; ripens August i; three other nameless seedling nectarines 
are reported by the same party. 



3i6 California Seedling Nectarines. 

As the future for the nectarine seems to rest upon drying 
and canning of the fruit, the h'ght-skinned, white or yellow- 
fleshed varieties without color at the stone, are most desirable. 
For drying, there has been thus far a decided preference for free- 
stone varieties, though possibly the present popularity of cling 
peaches for drying may extend to the clingstone nectarines. 
Much color, however, either in skin or flesh, will prevent the 
production of the beautiful translucent, amber hue of the dried 
nectarine, which bids fair" to be attractive to consumers. 
Color in the flesh is, of course, undesirable in canning, because 
of discoloration of the syrup. These facts have had much to 
do in fixing the popularity of the varieties named in the fore- 
going list. 

At present the largest orchards of nectarines are in Solano, 
Fresno, Tulare, and San Bernardino Counties, which are also fine 
peach counties and are perfectly adapted both to the growing of 
the fruit and to the open-air, sun drying of the fruit. 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE PFAR. 

The oldest deciduous fruit trees in California are pear trees, 
as has already been stated in the account of fruits at the old 
missions. The pear withstands neglect and thrives in soils and 
situations which other fruit trees would rebel against. It defies 
drought and excessive moisture, and patiently proceeds with its 
fruitage, even when the soil is trampled almost to rocky hard- 
ness by cattle, carrying its fruit and foliage aloft above their 
reach. And yet, the pear repays care and good treatment, and 
receives them from California growers, for the pear is one of our 
most profitable fruits. It is in demand for canning and for dis- 
tant shipment, and its long season and the slow ripening after 
picking allow deliberation in marketing, and admit of enjoying 
low rates for shipment by slow trains. The pear has not the 
beauty of the peach, nor is its handling characterized by so 
much dash and spirit, but the production of favorite market 
varieties at a time when the market welcomes them, is about as 
well repaid as any effort of the California fruit grower. 

The most obvious marks of the California pear are size and 
beauty. The most conspicuous example is the Bartlett, which 
is tJie pear of California, judged by its popularity, both fresh and 
canned. When well grown, its size is grand, and its delicate 
color, aroma, and richness unsurpassed. What extreme in point 
of size has been reached, is not known to the writer, but he saw 
at the San Jose Horticultural Fair, of 1886, thirteen Bartlett 
pears grown by A. Block, of Santa Clara, which weighed four- 
teen pounds, the heaviest of the group weighing twenty-two and 
one-half ounces. Other pears have made standard sizes in 
California far in advance of their records elsewhere. There was 
in 1870 a Pound pear sent from Sacramento to the late Marshall 
P. Wilder, President of the American Pomological Society, 
which weighed four pounds nine ounces, and was reported by 
Colonel Wilder to be larger than anything previously recorded 
in pear annals.* Notes kept by the writer include five Vicar of 



*'X\\\ow% JoHfiial of Hoi-ticultJtre, March, 1871, p. 87. An engraving of this fruit, n.itural size 
was given in Pacific Rural Press, November 8, 187'. 

(317) 



3i8 Prc-eini)icnce of titc Bartlett. 

W'inkfields weighinc^ four pounds eight ounces; nine Easter 
Beurre weighing twenty-four and one-half pounds, the heaviest 
single specimen weighing two and three-fourths pounds; thirty- 
five Beurre Clairgeau weighing thirty-seven pounds, the heaviest 
one. nineteen ounces; Seckel pears, nine and three-fourth inches 
in circumference — Downing's figure makes the Seckel five and 
seven-eighths inches around. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE PEAR. 

The pear has a w^der range than the apple in local adapta- 
tions. It does as well as the apple in the coast regions, if suita- 
ble varieties are grown; it thrives far better than the apple in 
the interior valleys; it rivals the apple in the ascent of the slope 
of the Sierra Nevada, and gains from the altitude, color and late 
keeping, as does the apple. By rejecting a few naturally tender 
varieties, or those susceptible to the attacks of the fungus {fiisi- 
cladium deiitriaivi), in regions where its attacks are severe, one 
can grow pears almost everywhere in California. 

The choice of location is governed more by commercial 
considerations than by natural phenomena. The same facts 
which make the Bartlett the favorite variety with planters, also 
should regulate the choice of locality for growing it. These 
facts have been expressed by C. W. Reed, of Sacramento, one 
of the leading pear growers and shippers of the State, as 
follows: — 

In the Sacramento Valley proper there is but one variety of pear that will 
justify extensive cultivation, viz^, the Bartlett. Wliile nearly all varieties may be 
grown successfully, and many varieties may be desirable for home purposes, yet for 
profitable orchards we have to confine ourselves to this one variety, except in high 
altitudes, or localities where the fruit only matures very .late. The reason for 
this will be better understood by the inexperienced if explained. The Bartlett pear 
having qualities that make it a universal favorite for shipping, canning, and for do- 
mestic market, no other variety is wanted while it is obtainable. With the difference 
in the time of its ripening in different localities that are adjacent, our markets are 
supplied with this variety about four months each season, viz., July, August, Septem- 
ber, and October. While this pear is in the markets any other variety to compete 
with it must sell at very low prices. It is not only the great demand the 
Bartlett pear has over other varieties in the markets, but as a healthy grower and 
regular bearer it has no equal. In the higher altitudes, where pears will keep till the 
Bartlett has disappeared, other varieties may be quite profitable, although they can 
never be grown to any similar extent. 

Of course, experienced pear growers whose taste would 
soon cloy with a continuous diet of Bartletts, and who know 
fully the superior quality of other varieties which ripen soon 
after it, would dispute the position taken by Mr. Reed, but for 
present California taste and trade he is undoubtedly correct. 
As the canners and shippers and local consumers all call for 
Bartletts, and as they usually sell at the East for nearly twice 
the price of other varieties, the choice of location to secure a 



Soils for tJie Pear. 319' 

Barilett, either very early or very late, is the part of wisdom, for 
either end of the season usualh' yields better prices than the 
middle. Some growers are even extending- the Bartlett season 
by growing Clapp's Favorite, which sells well because it is taken 
for a Bartlett. The earliest Bartletts come from the Sacramento 
Valley, the next from the valleys adjacent to the bay of San 
Francisco; the next, from the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada; 
and the last, so far as present experience goes, although some 
coast and mountain situations are quite late, reach the market 
from the Vacaville district. It is an interesting fact, that this 
district, which has long been famous for marketing the first early 
fruits, should also market very late ones. It is true, however, 
•that early fruits hasten to maturity and late fruits are retarded. 
Lite fruits push along until about midsummer, then stop grow- 
ing for a month or two during the hottest weather, and after- 
wards proceed on their course and finish up well. W. W. Smith, 
of \"aca Valley, has picked Bartletts as late as November 19, 
but that is unusually late. In years with heavy, late, spring rains, 
the Bartlett ripens earlier in the Vaca Valley than in ordinary 
seasons, and when the fruit sells well at the East, the Bartletts 
are gathered green and shipped all through the season, as their 
first growth usually makes them large enough for this purpose. 

Though the Bartlett is in wide favor, as stated, there is some 
progress being made in introducing other varieties, as will be 
stated in connection with the discussion of the adaptations of 
varieties. This substitution of other sorts is in part because 
the merit of others is being recognized, and in part because in 
some regions some of them are healthier and more trustworthy 
bearers than the Bartlett. 

There is produced in some situations a "second crop " of 
Bartletts which is of account, the bloom appearing upon the 
tips of the shoots of the current season's growth. 

SOILS FOR THE PEAR. 

The pear will generally do well on shallow soil and over a 
tight, clay hardpan, where most other fruits would be unsatis- 
factory or fail utterly. The trees will thrive in clay loams, and 
even in adobe, if properly cultivated. In laying out fruit farms, 
which often include a variety of soils, even in comparatively 
small area, the pears and plums (if on the right stock, as will be 
seen), should be set on the lower, moister, stiffer soil, and other 
fruits on the lighter, warmer, and better-drained portions. The 
pear, however, enjoys the better situation, though it will thrive 
on the poorer. The tree seems to attain its greatest growth and 
heaviest bearing on the alluvial soils of the vallej-s and near the 



320 Propagating and Planting. 

banks of riversand streams. All pears will be later in maturing and 
have better keeping qualities if grown on a clay subsoil. Thus it 
appears that the pear will flourish whether the water is near or far 
from the surface. As compared with the apple, it may be said that 
on wetland the apple tree dies in a few years,or becomes worthless. 
On dry land it lives longer, but the fruit is small and tasteless,, 
and comparatively worthless. But the pear tree will bear good 
fruit, under the same conditions, and its market price will aver- 
age three times more than that of the apple. 

It has been learned by experience at the South that the 
pear will flourish on soil too strongly charged with alkali for the 
well-being of any other fruit tree. Parish Brothers, of San 
Bernardino, have a few Bartlett pears on very wet alkaline soil — " 
too alkaline for farming. The trees bear heavily, but have only 
attained about half the size they would on good soil, and seem 
more inclined to overbear. The Vicar bears small crops of 
large fruit. The ground is covered with a heavy salt grass sod^ 
and the trees have been neglected. Out of a dozen pear trees 
in this situation, in 1872, four are now living. Mr. Parish's con- 
clusion is that he does not recommend alkaline soil for pears, but 
pears for alkaline soil, and it may be generally useful to know 
what fruit can be grown in such forbidding soil. 

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 

As Stated in the chapter on propagation, the use of dwarf- 
ing stock for the pear has been nearly abandoned in this State, 
though in early years the quince was largely used. The most 
prominent orchard on quince stock is that of A. Block, of Santa 
Clara, where may be seen dwarf treesset eight feet apartin squares, 
which are doing exceedingly well under his liberal system of 
manuring and irrigation. ^ It is quite possible that, at least for 
gardens, we shall see in the future more use made of dwarf trees, 
but for commercial orchards there appears no need of dwarfing. 
It is better to have fewer trees and larger ones. 

The following varieties are commended for cultivation on 
quince stock as dwarfs, experience proving them vigorous 
growers, abundant bearers, and otherwise highly remunerative 
in suitable localities: Beurre Hardy, Doyenne du Comice, 
Duchess d'Angouleme, Beurre Diel, White Doyenne, Easter 
Beurre, Winter Nelis, Colonel Wilder, P. Barry, Glout Mor- 
ceau.* 

But, as stated, the pear is usually grown in California on its 
own roots. It comes into bearing early enough, and is a long- 



Catalogue California Nursery Co. 



Pruning the Pear. 321 

lived tree. Trees are grown by either budding or grafting, as 
described in the chapter on that subject. Only good seedling 
roots should be used, and not suckers from old trees. Seed from 
the Seckel or the Louise Bonne de Jersey, is chosen for growing 
seedlings by some propagators. In regions subject to smut, 
some stronger grower free from fungus should probably be pre- 
ferred. 

The Japanese stock, so called, being seedlings of the Sand 
Pear, of Asia, is now being used to some extent by our tree 
growers. It makes a vigorous growth and promises to be 
successful and satisfactory. 

Distance in Planting. — If the pears are to have the 
whole ground, it is usual to plant from twenty to twenty-four 
feet apart on the square. As the tree is slower to attain size 
and full bearing than the stone fruits, and as it is a long-lived 
tree, the pears are sometimes set twenty-four feet with plums in 
quincunx. Peaches and apricots are also set between pears 
sometimes, but not often, for the soil commonly chosen for pears 
does not suit them unless they are on plum roots 

PRUNING. 

Usually the pear is grown in the vase form, as described irr 
the general chapter on pruning. With regular, upright grow- 
ers heading low and cutting to outside buds results in a hand- 
some, gently spreading top, and effectually curbs the disposition 
which some varieties, notably the Bartlett, have to run straight 
up with main branches crowded together. As with other fruit 
trees, the pear must be studied and pruning must be done with 
an understanding of the habit of the variety under treatment. 
Irregular and wayward growers, which, in windy places, also 
have their rambling disposition promoted by prevailing winds, 
often give the grower much perplexity. The general rules of 
cutting to an outside bud to spread the tree, to an inside bud to 
raise and concentrate it, and to an outside bud one year, and an 
inside bud the next, if a limb is desired to continue in a certain 
course, are all helpful to the pruner. But with some pears, of 
which the Winter Nelis is a conspicuous example, it is exceed- 
ingly hard to shape the tree by these general rules, and some 
growers abandon all rules, merely shortening in where too great 
extension is seen, or to facilitate cultivation, and trust to shaping 
the tree when it shall have finished its rampant growing period. 
It will be interesting to cite a few methods of California pear 
growers: — 
21 



322 Training the Wijiter Nelis. 

"The Winter Nelis pear is an uncouth grower. Let the trees alone until they 
have borne a good, heavy crop, and the linil)s come down and spread out nicely; this 
will occur in five or six years after setting. This will give you an idea what you 
want to do with the balance of the top that is not borne down with fruit. My plan is 
to cut straggling branches, thin out so as the branches wiil not wind around each 
other, but don't cut the top, for you will find that the more you cut the more wood 
you get; and after the tree comes into full bearing is plenty time to head back. It is 
a general rule for everyone to commence cutting as soon as the branches begin to form. 
This is all wrong. Nature will attend to her duty until the tree begins to bear too 
heavily. Leave three branches to start with, and you are all right." — A. Cad well, 
Petaluma. 

" Our orchard is not in a very windy place, but still it is windy enough to throw 
our Nelis trees out of form. To get any regularity of shape, we cut off every year 
all the shoots growing low down on the leeward side, shortening in what are left as 
occasion may require to an inside bud. On the windward side we rarely cut any 
branch out, but shorten in a little to an outside bud, frequently being obliged to cut 
back a strong shoot to a lateral which is growing outward." — Leonard Coates, Napa. 

" It is hard to get a misshapen Winter Nelis tree into shape. Let the grower take 
his shears and go around the tree and examine the difficulty until he is conversant 
with it, and then commence to prune, not too heavily, though. Cut the limbs that 
lean too far "leewards " back a little with an inside bud, and train all future limbs 
towards the weather side of the tree; cut the limbs this year so the coming buds will 
form limbs growing in the direction of the weather side of the tree. But use mod- 
eration and take your time for it, and don't cut too many big limbs off three-year-old 
trees — none, in fact, if it can be helped. In bringing limbs to proper place, ropes 
and stakes can perhaps be used to some advantage in connection with the pruning 
without interfering with the plowing. Another means which I have found very 
effectual to use in connection with the pruning, is to cut a piece of corn stalk the re- 
quired length for the intended place, and spread the limb a little, and insert the sec- 
tion of corn stalk endwise between the limb and the body of the tree, and you will 
have a very good brace that is easily made, and, being soft, will not injure the tree." — 
T. E. Owen, Santa Cruz. 

These methods will suggest others by which one can bring 
the most irregular grower into shape. If the tree is cut at 
planting so as to form the head low, it may be safely left un- 
til bearing age for shaping. The tree naturally makes a viny 
growth of young wood, and the object of leaving it alone is 
that one limb holds the other more upright until the main limbs 
become large, or stiff enough to keep the shape; so they may 
be left, after being thinned out to from three to five limbs, as judg- 
ment may direct. Some trees will be best with three or four, 
•others five. 

The experience of pear priming just cited has been 
secured in region more or less subject to coast influences. In 
the hot interior valleys, with the pear as with the apple, care 
must be taken to prune so as not to open the tree too much to 
the sun, but to shorten in and thin out only so far as is con- 
sistent with maintaining a good covering of foliage. 

THINNING PEARS. 

It is quite important to attend to thinning the fruit on over- 
loaded trees. Even the popular Bartlett will often give fruit too 



Diseases of the Pear. 



323 



small for profitable sale unless thinned. With pears, as other 
fruits, thinning should not be done until it is seen that the fruit 
is well set. Dropping off from natural causes sometimes thins 
the crop quite enough. 

BLIGHT OF THE PEAR. 

There are blights of the pear occasionally occurring in this 
State which are not yet fully understood, nor has their identity 
with the well-known Eastern blights been fully determined, 
though some growers claim to have recognized characteristic 
Eastern forms. Fortunately, however, they have not yet proved 
prevalent. 

The smut, which seriously affects some varieties, and notably 
the Winter Nelis, in the coast region, is identical with the smut 
of the apple already mentioned on page 232, to which the reader 
is referred for a remedy which has proved successful both upon 
the pear and the apple. The accompanying figures are those 
given by Mr. Klee, and show the effect of the fungus on pear 
branches; a^ is a young one-year old twig, showing the effect on 

leaf and bark, and similar to 
that on apples; <^, a two-year- 
old branch, shows the disease 
in its secondary stage, such 
as can be seen in a badly 
affected Winter Nelis tree. 
Because of the liability of 
the Winter Nelis to this dis- 
ease, and because of its ir- 
regular bearing in the coast 
region, there have been many 
trees grafted over into vari- 
eties better suited to coast 
conditions. The Beurre 
Clairgeau, because of its 
health, prolific bearing, and 
acceptability to shippers, has 
been largely introduced in 
this way. Ordinary top graft- 




Blight on Pear Twigs and Leaves. 



ing succeeds admirably with the pear. Clapp's Favorite and 
other varieties have also been worked upon Winter Nelis. 

GATHERING AND RIPENING OF PEARS. 

Many pear growers make the common mistake of allowing 
the fruit to hang too long on the tree, instead of gathering and 
ripening in a cool, dark place. Pears should be picked at the 



324 Ripening Pears Properly. 

first indication of ripeness, the first sign being a tendency of 
the stem to part from the spur when the pear is gently raised 
up. This test applies especially to the Bartlett. Picking at 
this stage and laying away in the dark ripens up the Bartlett 
well. When picked at this stage and sent overland by slow 
freight, they ripen eii route and the boxes open well on the 
Eastern markets. There are a few varieties which shrivel if 
ripened under cover, but the rule is a good one, and the grower 
will soon note the exceptions. Many desirable varieties have, 
no doubt, been pronounced poor and insipid because allowed to 
ripen on the tree. 

To ripen well, pears should be packed in tight boxes or 
inclosed in drawers. They do not do as well as apples on 
shelves open to circulation of air. As already stated, the oily- 
skinned apple endures exposure and maintains a smooth, ruddy 
cheek and sound heart in spite of wind, rain, and rough weather. 
The pear, under similar conditions, decays rapidly. 

VARIETIES OF THE FEAR.f 

Though large collections of famous Eastern and European 
pears have been brought to California, the peculiarity of the 
local market, and demand for canning and shipping, has led to 
concentration upon very few sorts. No doubt, as a better idea 
of quality in a pear becomes disseminated, and our local markets 
increase in importance, the pear list will be extended, both by 
propagation of the good local seedlings which are being brought 
out, and by wider use oi the old standard varieties. At present, 
however, the pears chiefly grown in California are the following, 
arranged approximately in the order of their ripening:* 

tBi.oODGOOD. — (New York.) Tree short, jointed, deep, reddish brown wood; 
fruit medium turbinate, inclining to obovate, thiclvening abruptly into stalk; yellow 
sprinkled with russet dots; calyx strong, open, almost without depression; stalk, 
obliquely inserted, without depression, short, fleshy at its base; flesh yellowish white, 
melting, sugary, aromatic; core small. (See table.) 

fBEURRE GiFFORD. — (France.) Tree slender, reddish colored shoots; fruit 
medium, pyriform, tapering to stem, which is short; greenish yellow, marbled with 
red in the sun; calyx closed; flesh white, melting, vinous. The first good early pear. 
(.See table.) 

Clapp's Favorite. — (Massachusetts.) Tree a strong grower; young shoots 
dark reddish brown; fruit large, slightly obtuse pyriform; pale lemon yellow with 
brown dots; flesh fine, melting, juicy, with rich, sweet, delicate, vinous flavor; re- 
sembles Bartlett, but lacks musky flavor. (See table.) 



t This sign prefixed to the name of a variety signifies that it is free from the smut fungus, or only 
slightly affected. 

* I'he descriptions are for the most part condensed from Downing, with local modifications 



Pears Chiefly Groivii in California. 325 

Harvest; syn. Sugar Pear. — (American.) Small, roundish, pale yellow, 
brownish in sun, brown and green dots; flesh whitish, rather dry but sweet; tree up- 
right, young wood olive yellow brown. (See table, i 

t Madeline. — (P'rench.) Medium, obovate pyriform, stalk long and slender, set 
on the side of a small swelling; pale yellowish green, rarely brownish blush; calyx 
small in shallow, furrowed basin; flesh white, juicy, delicate. (See table.) 

t Doyenne d' Ete; syn. Swnmer Doyenne. — (Belgium.) Small, roundish obo 
vate, slightly pyriform; smooth, fine yellow, shaded with red, numerous gray or 
russet dots; stalk short and thick, fleshy at junction with fruit, almost without de- 
pression; calyx small, open in shallow, corrugated basin; flesh white, melting, juicy, 
pleasant. Tree not a fast grower, but healthy. (See table.) 

t Dearborn's Seedling. — (Massachusetts.) Young shoots long, reddish 
brown; under medium size; roundish pyriform; smooth, clear, light yellow, with few 
minute dots; stalk slender, set with very little depression; calyx spreading in shallow 
basin; flesh white, very juicy, melting, sprightly. (See table.) 

Souvenir du Congres. — (French.) Large to very large (exceeding Bartlett and 
Clapp's Favorite, to both of which it bears strong resemblance); skin smooth, bright 
yellow when fully ripe, brilliant carmine in the sun; flesh resembling Bartlett, but has 
not the musky flavor, firm to the core; tree a good grower, but somewhat subject to 
smut. (See table.) 

+ Bartlett. — (English.) Tree a strong grower, early bearer, and healthy; fruit 
large, smooth, clear yellow, sometimes with delicate blush; stalk moderately long, 
stout and inserted in shallow cavity; calyx open; flesh white, fine-grained, juicy, 
buttery, highly perfumed (musky) vinous flavor. (See table.) 

Beurre ASSOMPTION. — (French.) Large, irregular; generally oblong pyriform, 
obtuse, yellow, dotted, marbled and splashed with red in sun; stalk short; calyx 
large, open; flesh white, half-fine, melting, juicy, rough next the core, acid, sweet; 
rots first at the core, and is condemned as a shipping pear. (See table.) 

t Beurre Hardy. — " Large, long obovate, sometimes obscurely pyriform; skin 
greenish with thin, brown russet; stalk an inch long; cavity small, uneven, oblique, 
basin shallow; buttery, somewhat melting, rich, slightly sub-acid; tree a strong 
grower." — ^J. J. Thomas. (See table.) 

t Flemish Beauty. — (Belgian.) Large, obovate, often obscurely tapering to 
the crown, very obtuse, surface slightly rough, with some reddish brown russet on pale 
yellow ground; flesh juicy, melting, and good if picked early and ripened iu the house. 
{See table.) 

Seckel. — (Pennsylvania.) Rather small, regularly formed, obovate; brownish 
green, becoming dull, yellowish brown, with russet red cheek; stalk slightly curved, 
and set in a trifling depres-ion; calyx small and set in a very slight depression; flesh 
whitish, buttery, very juicy and melting, with peculiarly rich, spicy flavor and aroma. 
(See table.) 

t De Tongres. — (France.) Large, obovate, acute pyriform, somewhat variable; 
pale yellow, thickly covered with light russet, making it a handsome bronze, and on 
the sunny side, red; skin thick, but tender, the surface pitted; stem is short and stout, 
and is inserted more or less obliquely at the summit of the fruit, with no cavity at its 
base. The core is small, seeds medium size and black; calyx is open; lobes spread- 
ing, dry, and leafy; bnsin shallow; flesh white, firm, rather coarse-grained, some- 
times a little dry, but, when in good condition, abundantly juicy; flavor sub-acid, 
sprightly, rich, with a peculiar, and to most people agreeable, taste. A vigorous- 
growing, early, and regular bearing tree. (See table.) 

Howell. — (Connecticut.) Rather large, roundish pyriform, light waxen yellow, 
often with finely shaded cheek thickly sprinkled with minute russet dots and some 



326 



Pears Chiefly Grozvn in California. 



t Louise Bonne of Jersey, 



russet patches; stalk medium, without cavity and sometimes lipped; sometimes in 
small cavity; calyx open in large, uneven basin; flesh^^whitish, juicy, brisk, vinous. 
(See tnble. ) 

t Doyenne Boussock. — (Belgium.) Fruit varying in form; obovate, inclining 
to pyriform or roundish, ol)tuse obovate; skin rough, deep yellow, clouded with 
russet, with red cheek; stalk rather short and stout, inserted in a round cavity; calyx 
open, basin shallow; flesh melting, juicy, sweet, aromatic. (See table.) 

Duchess d' Angouleme — (France.) Very large, oblong obovate, somewhat 
uneven, knobby surface; dull greenish yellow, streaked and spotted with russet; 
stalk long, stout, bent, deeply set in irregular cavity; calyx set in somewhat knoljby 
basin; flesh white, buttery, and juicy, with rich flavor. (See table.) 

France.) Large, oblong pyriform, a little one- 
sided; glassy, pale green in shade, brown- 
nish red in the sun, numerous gray dots; 
stalk curved, rather • obliquely inserted, 
without depression, or with a fleshy, en- 
larged base; calyx open in a shallow, un- 
even basin; flesh very juicy, and melting, 
rich, and excellent; very prolific. The 
adjacent engraving is from a photograph 
and shows a cluster of fifty-four pears 
grown in the Briggs' orchard, near Marys- 
ville. 

tBEURREDlEL. — (Belgium.) Large, 
varying from obovate to obtuse pyriform; 
skin rather thick, lemon yellow, becoming 
orange yellow, marked with large brown 
dots and marblmgs of russet; stalk stout, 
curved in rather uneven cavity; calyx 
nearly closed, in slightly furrowed basin; 
flesh yellowish white, a little coarse- 
grained near the core; rich, sugary, 
buttery, delicious. (See table.) 

+ White Doyenne; syn. Virgalieu. 
(France.) Medium to large, regular, 
obovate; smooth, clear, pale yellow, 
sprinkled with small dots, sometimes red- 
cheeked; stalk brown, little curved, in 
small, round cavity; calyx small, closed in 
shallow basin; flesh white, fine-grained, 
buttery, rich, and high flavored. (See 
table.) 

t Bei'RRE Bosc— (Belgium.) Large 
pyriform, a little uneven, often tapering 
long and gradually into the stalk; skin 
pretty smooth, dark yellow, dots and 
streaks of cinnamon russet, slightly red on 
one side; stalk long, rather slender, 
curved; calyx short, in shallow basin; 
flesh white, melting, buttery, rich, with 
slightly perfumed flavor. (See table.) 

Onondaga; syn. Sivans Cra;?^".?.— (Connecticut.) Large, obtuse, oval pyri- 
form, neck very short and obtuse, body large and tapering to obtuse apex; flesh 
melting, sprightly, vinous. A vigorous, upright grower, healthy; yellow shoots; 
sells well in distant markets. Approved in Alameda County and in the Sacramento 
Valley. 




Cluster OF Fifty-Four Louise 

Bonne Pears Grown at 

Marysville. 



Pears Chiefly Groivn in California. 327 

Dix. — (Massachusetts.) Large, long, p3'riform, Ijody round ovate, tapering 
slightly to the often oblique, and slightly flattened and obtuse crown; yellowish green, 
becoming deep yellow; dots numerous, distinct; stalk one and one-fourth inches, 
stout at each end, slightly sunk; basin small; flesh rich, juicy, sweet; grown in the 
Sacramento Valley, and used to some extent in Eastern shipments. 

t Sheldon. — (New York. ) Medium, roundish, obtuse, obovate; greeni.'ih yellow, 
mostly covered with russet, with slight crimson in sun; stalk short and stout; cavity 
deep; caiyx open in large, broad basin; flesh whitish, very juicy, melting, sweet, 
aromatic. (See table.) 

t Beurre Ci.airgeau. — (France.) Large pyriform, but with unequal sides; 
yellow shaded with orange and crimson, thickly covered with russet dots, sometimes 
sprinkled with russet; stalk short, stout, and fleshy, inserted by a lip at an inclination 
almost without depression; when lip is absent, the cavity is uneven; calyx open; 
flesh yellowish, buttery, juicy, granular, sugary, perfumed, vinous. A popular 
variety for local and distant markets. (See table.) 

Beurre d' Anjoii. — (France.) Large, obtuse pyriform; stem short, thick, and 
fleshy, in a cavity surrounded by russet; calyx small, open, in small cavity, russeted; 
skin greenish, sprinkled with russet, sometimes shaded with dull crimson, brown and 
crimson dots; flesh whitish, not very fine, melting, juicy, brisk, vinous flavor, per- 
fumed; tree a fair grower, but somewhat affected by fungus. (See table.) 

Dana's Hovey; syn. Winter Seckd. — (Massachusetts.) Small, obovate, 
obtuse pyriform; greenish yellow or pale yellow, with much russet and brown dots; 
stalk rather short, a little curved, set in slight cavity, sometimes lipped; calyx open 
and basin small; flesh yellowish, juicy, melting, sweet, aromatic. (See table.) 

t Doyenne d' Alencon. — Medium, roundish, oval, inclining to pyriform; skin 
rough, yellow, shaded with dull crimson or carmine, with russet patches and brown 
clots; stalk pretty large, in medium cavity; calyx open, basin deep; flesh somewhat 
granular, buttery, juicy, sugary, rich, sprightly, perfumed; condemned as a shy bearer 
by A. Block, of Santa Clara. (See table.) 

tViCAROF WiNKFlELD. — (France.) Large and long pyriform; pale yellow 
fair and smooth, sometimes with brownish cheek and marked with small, brown dots 
stalk slender, obliquely inserted without depression, calyx large, open, set in a basin 
very slightly sunk; flesh greenish yellow, juicy, with good sprightly flavor. (See 
table.) 

Doyenne du Comice. — (France.) Large, varying, roundish pyriform, or broad, 
obtuse pyriform; greenish yellow, becoming fine yellow, shaded with crimson, slightly 
marked with russet spots, and thickly sprinkled with russet dots; stalk short, stout, 
inclined and set in shallow cavity, often russeted; calyx small, open; basin large, 
deep, and uneven; flesh white, fine, melting, aromatic. (See table.) 

GloutMorceau.— (Flemish.) "Rather large, varying inform, but usually short 
pyriform, approaching obtuse oval; neck very short and obtuse, body large and 
tapering towards the crown; often considerably ribbed; green, becoming pale green- 
ish yellow; stalk stout, moderately sunk; calyx large; basin distinct, rather irregular; 
flesh white, fine-grained, buttery, melting, rich, sweet, and of fine flavor." — J. J. 
Thomas. (See table. ) 

Lawrence. — (New York.) Medium size, lemon yellow, with minute brown 
dots; flesh whitish, juicy, melting, and rich; grown for shipment to some extent on 
the Sacramento River. Approved in Butte County. 

Beurre Gris d' Hiver Nouveau.— (France.) Medium, roundish, obtuse pyri- 
form; golden russet, with red cheek, and sprinkled with dots; stalk very stout, rather 
short, inclined; sometimes in large cavity, sometimes lipped; calyx very small and 
open; basin shallow, uneven; flesh somewhat granular, juicy, buttery, melting, rich, 
and sugary, with peculiar aroma. " Size large to very large; tree a good regular 
bearer; quality very good."— W. G. Klee, Alameda County. Unfavorably reported 
by A. Block, of Santa Clara. (See table.) 

Winter Nelis— (Belgium.) Medium, roundish, obovate, narrowed in near 
the stalk; yellowish green, dotted with gray russet and a good deal covered with 
russet; stalk rather long, bent, and set in narrow cavity; calyx open in shallow basin; 
flesh yellowish, white, fine-grained, buttery, very melting, and full of rich, sweet, 
aromatic juice. (See table. ) 



328 



California Seedling Pears. 



Easter Beurre. — (France.) Large, roundish, obovate obtuse, often rather 
square in figure; yellowish green, sprinkled with inany russet dots and some russet 
patches; stalk rather short, stout, set in an abruptly sunken, obtuse cavity; calyx 
small, closed, but little sunk among plaited folds of angular basin; flesh white, fine- 
grained, very buttery, melting, and juicy, sweet, rich flavor; was successfully shipped 
from California to England, as early as 1872. (See table.) 

Pound. — Large, pyriform; yellowish green with red cheek; esteemed for cook- 
ing; reaches enormous size in this State, as already noted. (See table.) 

KiEFFER AND Le CoNTE. — These pears, recently introduced as especially hardy 
varieties, are grown to a limited extent in all parts of the State, but are usually con- 
demned as inferior to the European varieties, which attain such excellence in this 
State. 




B. S. Fox — A California Seedling. 
CALIFORNIA SEEDLING PEARS. 



California propagator.s have not paid so much attention to 
the production of seedling pears as of other seedling fruits, and 
yet notable results have been attained by a few. The late B. S. 
Fox, of San Jose, was our most intelligent and zealous worker 



California Seedliiig Pears. 



329 



in this direction, and his seedUngs are attaining the eminence 
which he expected for them. Three are prominent, of which 
descriptions from Downing's Appendix II, pages 146, 152, and 
154, are given herewith: — 




Colonel Wilder — a California Seedling. 

B. S. Fox. — (California seedling by B. S. Fox.) Described by Downing in 
his Appendix II. Fruit large, oblong, obtuse pyriform; skin clear, bright yellow, 
nearly covered with rich, golden russet; stalk rather short, stout, inserted obliquely 
by a lip in a slight depression; flesh whitish, fine, juicy, melting, sweet, rich, and ex- 
cellent. "A good grower, bearer, and shipper. September to October." — Califor- 
nia Nursery Co. 

P. Barry. — (California seedling by B. S. Fox.) Fruit large, elongated pyri- 
form, a little obtuse; skin deep yellow, nearly covered with a rich golden russet; 
stalk of medium length and thickness, set rather obliquely on a medium cavity, some- 
times by a lip; flesh whitish, fine, juicy; melting, sweet, slightly vinous, and rich. 
"An early and prolific bearer. December to January." — California Nursery Co. 
The pear, P. Barry, is recommended for planting, by the Southern California Nur- 
serymen's Association. It is coming into wide favor in the near coast regions, as it 
does not blight; and is approved in the interior valleys. It is expected that the Barry 
will displace the Winter Nelis as a more healthy tree and a more certain bearer. 
(See table.) 



330 



California Seedling Pears. 



Colonel Wilder. — (California seedling, by B. S. Fox.) Fruit medium to 
large, roundish obtuse pyriform; skin light yellow, a shade of light orange red in the 
sun; slight nettings of russet, and numerous small russet and brown dots; stalk 




P. Barry — a California Seedling. 

rather short; flesh whitish yellow; a little coarse around the core; juicy, melting, 
very sweet, with a peculiar slight musky and slightly aromatic flavor. " This will 
undoubtedly prove a first-class very late variety. December to January." — Califor- 
nia Nursery Co. 

R. D. Fox, in an article in the Rural Press, Nov. 24, 1883, says these varieties 
originated from seed of Belle Lucrative; they were in bearing in 1873. Mr. Fox 
grew scores of seedlings, but considered these only worth perpetuating. They re- 
ceived Wilder medals from American Pomological Society, in 1875 and 1881. 



California Seedling Pears. 



S3I 



Block's Acme. — (California seedling, by A. Block, of Santa Clara.) Large 
and very handsome, surpassing Beurre Clairgeau in size and color; regularly formed, 
pyriform; skin pale yellow, covered with russet all over, which becomes a fine glow- 
ing red on the side exposed to the sun; flesh white, crisp, and melting, juicy, sweet, 
and slightly musky; a pear that will rank foremost with our best shipping pears. 




The Kennedy Pear— a California Seedling. 



Block's Superh. — (California seedling, by A. Block, of Santa Clara.) Medium 
size, roundish obovate; skin greenish yellow, covered with patches of russet and dots; 
flesh yellowish, fine-grained, melting, with a rich, sugary and vinous flavor; a pear 
that will come in line with our best autumn pears. 

The above descriptions were drawn by John Rock, Leonard Coates, and I. A. 
Wilcox, as a Committee of the California State Horticultural Society. Mr. Block 
was awarded a Wilder medal for his seedling pears, by the American Pomological 
Society, in 1885. The Acme was awarded a premium at the Mechanics' Institute 
Fair, in 1887. 



332 California Seedling Pears. 

Kenxedy. — (California seedling originated on Rancho Chico, and first brought 
to notice by D. H. Lennox, nurseryman to General Bidwell.) Description by W. 
G. Klee: "Size, medium or a little below; length and width, from two and one- 
fourth to two and three-fourths inches; general shape, only slightly elongated, and 
always more or less irregularly angular or partially flattened in cross section, while 
the longitudinal section is quite regular, showing the greatest diameter at about three- 
fifths of the length; stem, one and one-eighth inches long, curved, rather stout and 
club-shaped, with a constriction where attached to a mamillary basil projection, 
which is also surrounded by a furrow at least half way round; flower end, with a 
rounded basin, from which the partly fleshy calyx lobes rise just to a level with the 
surrounding ridge; skin roughish, wholly or partly russet, like the Winter Nelis; flesh 
tender, somewhat granular, especially around the core, very sweet and juicy, and 
well but not excessively flavored; carpels, four or five, mostly with two perfect seeds 
each; an angular cavity one-half to five-fifths inch in length in the axis; in excellent 
condition October ll; a few just beginning to soften, but uniformly throughout, firm- 
est near the core. " Superior to Bartlett or Winter Nelis in flavor, and ripens be- 
tween the two." — G. M. Gray. 

Santa Ana. — " Originated in town of same name, in Los Angeles County. 
Large, conical pear; bright golden yellow covered with russet, exceedingly handsome; 
flesh fine-grained and free from woody substance; flavor equal to Winter Nelis or 
Seckel; good from the tree and yet will keep all winter; shipping and keeping 
qualities cannot be excelled." — W. R. Strong & Co, 1887. 

The Idaho Pear. — Originated from seed sown by Mrs. Mulkey, of Lewiston, 
Idaho, and propagated by the Idaho Pear Co., of that place. Described by J. J. 
Thomas: " Large, nearly globular, obtusely ribbed, light, rich yellow with numerous 
small dots; cavity very deep and narrow, and strongly furrowed; stem small for so 
large a pear; basin very deep and furrowed; calyx closed; flesh fine-grained, buttery 
and melting, with very good flavor. " Introduced but not yet fruited in California. 

Napa Seedling. — "Very large; similar to iJuchess d' Angouleme; very thrifty; 
October and November." — Leonard Coates, 1886. 

Santa Rosa Seedling. — "Originated on the place of Dr. McAnnally, in 
Santa Rosa, and propagated by "Luther Burbank; said to resemble the Vicar in size 
and shape, and the Bartlett in flavor; ripens late, remaining on the tree until Novem- 
ber. "—i'v'?<r(7/ /"rif.fj-, Dec. 29, 1883. 

PEARS IN THE UNIVERSITY ORCHARD. 

The University of California has, at Berkeley, Alameda 
County, a large collection of pears. The growth of the trees 
and the character of the fruit has been systematically observed 
and noted for several years, and the data secured is of value to 
pear growers. Professor Hilgard's report for 1887 contains 
tables which give in condensed form the records made by W. G. 
Klee, who was in charge of the orchard for several years. All 
this information may be had by securing a copy of the report 
from Prof. E. VV. Hilgard, Berkeley, Cal. Scions can also be had 
for grafting or budding, the applicant being charged only the 
postage thereon. 

The following varieties not generally grown in this State 
are considered by Mr. Klee especially worthy of trial. Those 
which have withstood the blight, and ai-e therefore presumably 
adapted to coast regions, are marked with an asterisk (*). Ex- 



Pears Commended for Southern California, 333 

captions to this rule are noted in the text. The time of ripening 
at Berkeley is given, which is, of course, late, as compared with 
the interior: — 

Annie Ogereau. — Very handsome; beginning of August. 

Ott. — Middle of August, before Seckel; small, but delicious. 

Diuhesse Precoce. — Above medium; a steady bearer; fair quality; end of July. 

* Doyenne Robin. — Medium to large; beginning of September; good bearer; fair 
quality; excellent keeper. 

Dr. Recder. — Small, but of the highest quality; end of September, beginning 
of October, after Seckel. 

*Pafadise d' Autiimne. — September and October; medium size; very good. 

* Marie Louise d'' Uccles. — End of September; small grower, but a large and 
constant bearer; fruit large; good quality. 

* Conseiller de la Cour. — Large; regular bearer; good; middle of October. 

*falousie Fotitcnay J'endee. — Medium; good bearer; resembles in taste Beurre 
Gris, of Europe. 

* Pitmaston Duchesse d' Angotilevie. — A pear entirely different from the ordinary 
Duchesse; is later; large to very large; so far a shy bearer; good. 

* Baron de Mello. — Medium; regular bearer; November; good. 

Augustus Dana. — Large; November; very good; so far a shy bearer. 

* Md. Lariol de Barny. — Large, good bearer; good. 

'^ famitiefie. — Above medium si?e; November and December; excellent keeper; 
good (extremely sweet). 

Fondante de Noel. — Above medium; very handsome; December; good. 

* fones^ Seedling. — Small; a good, steady bearer; October; good. 

Duhamel de i^owr^aw. — December; above medium; very good; tree a poor 
grower. 

Forelle or German Trout Pear; a fall pear of great beauty. 

* Louis Vilmorin. — Large pear resembling Clairgeau. Not adapted to coast 
climate; should be tried elsewhere; tree healthy and yield fair. 

Beurre Stiperfin. — Medium roundish, pyriform; fair grower; fruit rich and 
delicious; keeps fairly. 

PEARS COMMENDED FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

The Southern California Nurserymen's Association com- 
mends the following pears: Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Winter 
Nelis, Easter Beurre, Beurre Hardy, Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre 
Bosc, Clapp's Favorite; Seckel, Vicar of Winkfield, Doyenne d' 
Alencon P. Barry. 

TABULAR STATEMENT OF ADAPTATIONS. 

Upon the two following pages are tables showing adaptations of 
varieties to the counties named, the compilation being governed 
by the conditions already described in connection with other 
fruits: — 



334 



Pears Chiefly Groivn in California. 



TAHLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE PEAR CONSIDERED MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES INDICATED. 



Counties of California. 



Del Norte 

Humboldt 

Mendocino 

Lake 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa, . . 

Alameda 

Santa Clara 

San Mateo 

Santa Cruz 

San Benito 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo. 
Santa Barbara. . 

Ventura 

Los Angeles. . . . 

San Diego 

San Bernardino. , 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus 

San Joaquin 

Sacramento .... 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc , 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El Dorado 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne 

Mariposa 

Alpine 

Mono 

Inyo 



Pears Chiefly Grozvn in California. 



335 



TABLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE PEAR CONSIDERED MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES INDICATED. 



Counties of California. 



Del Norte 

Humboldt 

Mendocino 

Lake 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa. , . 

Alameda 

Santa Clara 

San Mateo 

Santa Cruz 

San Benito 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo. 
Santa Barbara. . , 

Ventura 

Los Angeles. . . . 

San Diego 

San Bernardino , , 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus 

San Joaquin 

Sacramento .... 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou , 

Modoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El Dorado 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne 

Mariposa 

Alpine , 

Mono 

Inyo 



<i o 



^\^- 



C H AFTER XXII. 

PLUMS AND PRUNES.* 

The plums of California are exceptionally fine in appear- 
ance and of high quality. Both tree and fruit have thus far 
escaped the parasites which have wrought greatest injury on the 
eastern side of the continent. The curculio has never been 
found here, and the "black knot," though detected in some of 
the indigenous species of the genus prunus,-\ has never been 
observed in our orchards. The tree suffers, it is true, as do most 
other fruit trees, from minute pests infesting bark and leaf, but 
their work is a light affliction compared with the ravages of the 
curculio and black knot which Eastern plum growers have to 
contend against. Including the large planting of the last two 
years, the plum stands second only to the peach among the fruit 
trees of California, though there are still twice as many peach as 
plum trees. Of the plums, at least two-thirds are those varieties 
designated as prunes, and the preponderance of prunes is rap- 
idly advancing. This is, of course, owing to the profitable 
shipping demand for our prune product, while ordinary dried 
plums do not generally command good prices. There is, how- 
ever, a growing trade at the East in our fine plums in a fresh 
state. Some varieties stand shipment well, and are large and 
handsome. The work of the curculio at the East opens the way 
for our fruit. By choosing varieties ripening in succession, the 
plum season extends from May to December, thus enabling the 
California plum grower to strike the Eastern markets both early 
and late. There is also a considerable demand for plums by 
the canners, and some varieties not usually called prunes, but 
dried as prunes, sell well. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE PLUM. 

The plum has an exceedingly wide range in California. 
The trees are thrifty and profitable even from the immediate vi- 
cinity of the coast, and in coast valleys, where the sea winds 



*The prune is only a plum, having the property of drying and curing without the seed being re- 
moved, and making a superior dried fruit. 

t Found on priinus demissa in Vosemite Valley and in Coast Range in San Mateo County, by Dr. 
H. W. Harkness, Rep. State Board of Hort., 1883, pp. 54 and 55. 

(336) 



Plums in Southern California. 



jj/ 



and fogs intrude, eastward across the great interior valleys, and 
upwards upon the sides of the Sierra Nevada. In the upper 
half of the State, at least, wherever there is sufficient moisture 
in the soil, good plums can be grown. The wide distribution of 
the native plum, as noted in the chapter on our wild fruits, seems 
to welcome the improved varieties to similar distinction on the 
uplands, and the earliest plantings in the valleys demonstrated 
also the adaptation of the fruit to the lowlands. The tree is 
quite hardy, but in situations open to sweep of the winds there 
has been found to be decided advantage in belts of sheltering 
trees for protection. At some points subject to direct coast in- 
fluences, there is sometimes loss by cracking of the fruit. Only 
certain varieties are thus affected, and they can be avoided where 
the trouble is found to exist. 

It was for a long time held that Southern California was 
not adapted to the growth of the plum, but the experience of 
the last few years has shown that the conclusion was too broad. 
The "French prune " has demonstrated its success adjacent to 
the coast in Santa Barbara County and elsewhere; in the low, 
rich lands of the Santa Ana Valley, of Los Angeles County; in 
the interior at various points on the rim of the San Gabriel Val- 
ley, notably at Pomona, and still farther inland at points in the 
San Bernardino Valley. Other varieties of plum also succeed 
in the regions named, and other similar situations, and though 
possibly all conditions of success may not yet be known, there 
seem to be no natural barriers to the success of the fruit if the 
trees are properly handled by the grower. No doubt the ar- 
rangement of proper moisture conditions is important. The 
tree should be helped to make one good growth and to ripen its 
wood in the fall. To have growth checked by drought and a 
second start made later in the season is not desirable. One 
intending to grow plums at the South should confer with older 
residents, and thus get the results of local experience, and pro- 
ceed accordingly. 

SOILS AND STOCKS FOR THE PLUM. 

With the plum, as with the apricot, the subjects of soils and 
stocks are intimately related, but the whole matter has been 
wonderfully simplified by the experience of the last i&w years. 
This relief has come through the adoption of the myrobolan, or 
cherry plum {prunus viyrobalana^ as a general all-around stock 
for plums and prunes. Before this practice was taken up the 
effort to grow the plum on its own roots generally resulted in get- 
ting an orchard full of suckers, and to avoid this, plums were 
worked on peach roots wherever this root would succeed in the 



jy 



The Myrobolan Plum. 



soil to be planted. But some varieties of plums do not take 
kindly to the peach, and then "double working" (putting first 
on the peach a plum which is known to take well and then on 
that plum wood the variety desired) was followed. The use of 
the myrobolan does away with the suckering nuisance and the 
need of double working. 

There has been considerable discussion during the last few 
years as to what is the true myrobolan, and it must be acknowl- 
edged that some of the refined distinctions which have been 
mooted do not seem to be well placed. Seedlings grown from 





The Myrboloan Plum— Bloom and Fruit. 

the seed of the myrobolan vary as do other fruit seedlings, both 
in fruit and in foliage and habit of trees, and perhaps this fact 
has given rise to the distinction between " true" and " false " 
mvrobolan, so called. Practice has proceeded without much 
reference to the discussion, and whether grown here, from seed 
of trees imported long ago, or from cuttings of the same, or 
whether seedling stocks are imported directly from France, as 
large quantities are, the myrobolan of French origin is now the 
accepted plum stock for California. It has largely displaced 
the St. Julien and the Mirabelle as well as the peach. Though 
described by some authorities as a dwarfing stock, it is found to 
be sufficiently free growing in California to suit all purposes, and 



OtJier Stocks for the Plum. 339 

to form a good foundation for full standard trees. Such promi- 
nence has been attained by the stock that we introduce from the 
Loudon Garden an engraving of the typical myrobolan tree. Its 
leaves are smaller and its shoots finer than the cherry plum tree 
grown for its fruit in this State. 

Whether myrobolan shall be grown from seed or from cut- 
tings is an open question in California practice. Large quanti- 
ties have been grown from cuttings, as is the French practice, 
according to Baltet.* Other propagators hold, with W. H. Pep- 
per, of Petaluma, that plum cuttings " form a mass of fibrous 
roots at the lower end of the cutting, and when transplanted fail 
to send out strong supporting roots. I see no need of using 
plum stocks grown from cuttings when first-class seedling stocks 
can be bought for $10 or $12 per thousand." As for the dura- 
bility of trees grown from cuttings, there can easily be found 
old, thrifty orchards planted with such trees, though it must be 
acknowledged a better root system would be expected from a 
seedling, and there are instances in which trees from cuttings are 
held to be diseased in the root, while seedling roots are healthy. 
Possibly longer experience may yield a demonstration of the 
question. The growth of myrobolan stocks from cuttings is 
described on page lOi. 

Experience has shown that the myrobolan stock thrives in 
this State both in low, moist, valley lands, in comparatively dry 
lands, and in stiff upland soils. Thus it has come to be accepted 
as an all-around stock for the plum. 

In some soils especially adapted to the peach, peach roots 
are still preferred as stocks for plums, but, as already said, all plums 
cannot be worked directly on the peach root, the Columbia, 
Yellow Egg, and Washington, for example. Sometimes the bud 
or scion may make a large growth, but the two woods do not 
unite, and the trees break off sooner or later. 

Some work the plum on the apricot root, and report success 
when the soil suits the apricot root, and the gophers do not get 
at it. But it is claimed that the French prune parts from the 
apricot root even after growing some time upon it, and yet there 
are instances of the French prune thriving, and, apparently, 
making good union with the apricot root. 

Some plums do well on the almond root and some do not. 
The French prune succeeds admirably both when worked on 
young almond stocks and top grafted in old almond trees. 
Success is also reported with the Fellenberg on the almond. 
But the almond root is suited especially for warm, dry soils. 
Excellent results from the use of almond stock are reported from 

*" Grafting and Budding," p. 199. 



340 Propagating from Sprouts. 

the Sierra foot-hills. Thus it appears that choice of stock should 
be made according to soil, but unless it is known that there is 
some local advantage in the use of other stock, the myrobolan 
should be used. This brings the plum on its own root, and en- 
ables the planter to grow good plums on stiff clay soil, on 
shallow loam with a clay subsoil, and in situations which are too 
wet for most other fruit trees. The plum root will also stand 
more alkali than any other fruit save the pear. But though the 
plum will endure harsh surroundings, it enjoys the good things of 
the earth and returns fruit accordingly. A rich clayey loam 
seems to best suit the plum tree. 

PROPAGAriNG BY SPROUTS. — The French practice of 
growing certain varieties of the plum by means of sprouts from 
the base of old trees has been successfully followed in this State 
by Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, and is strongly commended by 
him as securing a tree which will not gum, which is one of the 
reasons why the same practice prevails in France. Mr. Gillet 
says that in the prune district of France two-thirds of the trees 
are grown from sprouts and one-third by budding or grafting on 
other roots. This practice is as follows: — 

Sprouts growing at the foot of old and large trees, and but few are found to 
each tree, are taken off and planted close together in a bed to make them root well, 
and the ensuing spring planted in nursery rows where they are trained like any other 
trees, and transplanted where to remain, when branched. 

PLANTING AND PRUNING. 

As with other trees, there is difference of opinion as to the 
best distance apart for plum trees. The present tendency is 
toward wider planting, and not nearer than twenty feet is the 
usual advice. 

The plum, in California, is a most rapid grower; six to ten 
feet from the bud or graft in a season, and about as much after 
the first winter's cutting back, is not at all unusual. At this rate 
of progress then the tree soon runs up and away in a spindling, 
sprawling fashion, unless severely cut back for the first 
few years. Neglected trees show long, streaming branches, 
arching outward, and exposing the bark to sunburn (to which it 
is very sensitive), breaking the tree to pieces as the fruit gets 
weight, and even if supported by props, breaking off at the 
bearing of the prop. This condition of the tree can only be 
obviated by low heading and cutting back each year, throwing 
strength into the stem and branches, as has been described in 
the chapter on pruning, and in connection with the other fruits 
already considered. 



Priming the Plum. 341 

The general vase form is the best model for the plum tree, 
but it will do well to form it with more branches than other trees. 
In an address before the Fruit Growers' Convention in 1886, W. 
H. Aiken, of Wrights, Santa Clara County, advised the shaping 
of the plum tree as follows: — 

Cut back the trees, after planting, to eighteen inches from the ground, and shade 
on south side by some convenient shade. Three or four buds should be allowed to 
grow at the top, and the terminal buds of those which start below pinched back, 
after they have grown out a little, so that the buds will put out leaves and shade the 
stalk the first year. The second year, remove them and cut back the limbs to a foot 
in length; the third year cut oft" all but two feet of the new wood, etc. — the object 
in view being to shape a handsome tree with strength and bearing space, which can 
be attained only by low training and intelligent pruning. 

It is important in pruning to select buds on the upper side of limbs, as they will 
have a greater weight-bearing power than buds forming branches from under side of 
boughs. Summer pruning is not advisable; a full season's growth, properly pruned 
back in the winter and trained low so that the branches take a natural upward and 
oblique direction, will shape a tree that will be strong and broad enough to live long 
and be fruitful. 

My idea of pruning the prune or the plum tree is to make a handsome tree with 
plenty of limbs, and prune it back so that it will give the limbs great strength and 
bearing space. In that way you can raise a large amount of good plums or prunes. 

Do not thin out much, because when it begins to bear the tree opens very nicely. 
I have eight-year-old French prune trees, and, though they didn't average it, many 
of them had eight hundred pounds of prunes on this year without much affecting 
the form or the shape of the tree. They were pruned to secure such a broad bear- 
ing space that they bore that amount of prunes very easily. 

Pruning the French Prune. — How long the system of 
shortening should be followed is just now a matter of contro- 
versy. The conflict of opinion on the subject in the Santa 
Clara Valley was curiously brought out in a case at law in the 
Superior Court of that county. The defendant had agreed to 
pay a certain lump sum for the coming crop of a certain prune 
orchard. He did not fulfill his contract, and when sued by the 
plaintiff, set up, as one point in his defense, that the orchard 
had been pruned too short, hence the crop was rendered small. 
Thus the whole question of pruning was brought into court, 
and experts (prominent fruit growers of the valley) were exam- 
ined. In his decision* for the plaintiff the judge made the fol- 
lowing reference to the pruning of the orchard: — 

Witnesses for the defense all agreed that the trees were pruned excessively short, 
and that the failure of the crop was owing to this cause. The reasons assigned by 
these witnesses are these: That by short pruning, in the first instance, many buds 
are cut off" which would and should be permitted to produce fruit. Further, that by 
such short pruning, the remaining buds are unduly stimulated and an excessive 
growth of wood and twigs is produced at the expense of the fruit. 

Witnesses for the plaintiff" all testified that the orchard had been properly 
pruned. It further appears from the testimony of all the witnesses that there are 
two systems or modes of pruning in vogue, and that each has a numerous school of 
followers; that the witnesses called by the defendant favor the long method, by which 



*In full in San Jose Mercury, Aug. i , i8 



342 Methods Nozu on Tibial. 

one-third or even less of each year's growth is cut oft, while the other class, repre- 
sented by plaintiffs witnesses, remove two-thirds or three-hfths of the yearly growth; 
that the merits of the two systems have been the subject of much debate and of much 
experiment, and that both methods are extensively practiced and advocated. The 
witnesses, farther, all agree that the course to be adopted would be largely dependent 
upon the age, the growth, and the vigor of the trees, and that the results might be 
affected or materially modified by the character of the season. 

The case was not decided upon the pruning, but the extracts 
given show quite a difference of opinion between Santa Clara 
County growers as to the extent of "shortening in" of bearing 
prune trees. 

During the last two years this issue has progressed with 
the advantage in favor of those who advocate less shortening in 
after the tree comes in bearing than was formerly in vogue, and 
the claim for sparing the knife rests upon the observed amount 
and character of the fruit by the two methods. The question 
is a broad one, and includes trees in the interior as well as in 
the coast valleys. At the Fruit Growers' Convention of 1885, 
I. H. Thomas, of Visalia, told of an experiment he had been 
watching for three years at Fresno. Of two blocks of seven- 
year-old French prune trees, one was cut back close each winter 
and the other not pruned except to cut out cross limbs. The 
pruned block yielded but little fruit; the other bore heavily. 
From this observation Mr. Thomas concluded that he would 
not do much pruning of the French prune after getting it in 
good shape as a three-year-old. 

Mr. Hatch, of Suis.un Valley, is following the practice of 
cutting back four years for shape, then letting the tree go un- 
pruned and into fruit for one year, and the following winter cut 
back to within twelve or fifteen inches of the previous cut. 

Dr. W. J. Dobbins, of Vaca Valley, is following this method: 
Instead of taking off one-half of the new growth on a four-year- 
old prune tree, he lets it go unpruned, and it will throw out 
fruit spurs up to the top of the shoots where only a short ter- 
minal growth will be made. The next winter he cuts off all the 
new growth and part of the old. He believes prune and pear 
trees will do better by being shortened in every second or third 
year after coming into bearing, but this rule will not hold with 
the peach or apricot. 

These methods are as yet but experimental, and are given 
as such. They are, however, the outgrowth of much observation 
on the behavior of the French prune tree, and the future will 
demonstrate whether they are best to reach desired ends. It 
is obvious from what was said at the outset, with reference to 
the growth of the tree, that care must constantly be had to 
keep the tree symmetrical and strong, and to guard against dis- 
aster from overcfrowth. 



Varieties Chiefly Groivn in California. 343 

How far desirable ends can be reached by summer prunint^ 
is not yet demonstrated. It is practiced by some growers on 
bearing trees, but never on young trees. The danger with it is 
that it is apt to over-act and secure excessive weight of inferior- 
sized fruit. Thinning out the tree is seldom needed; rather is 
the retention of all foliage and shade desirable. 

Special Study of Varieties in Pruning. — The points 
just advanced apply especially to the management of the 
French prune. How far other varieties may be benefited by it 
must be determined by the grower by study of the habit of 
the variety he has to deal with. The general rules for handling 
trees with different habits of growth are applicable to a certain 
extent to the plum. When to apply a rule or make an excep- 
tion must be learned by observation and experience. 

VARIETIES OF PLUMS AND PRUNES. 

As with other fruits, comparatively izw varieties of the 
plum are largely grown in California, and the list is continually 
being reduced. The demand for shipment to the East is lead- 
ing to trial of various new sorts which ripen very early, and 
some local seedlings are promising well in this respect. For 
later sorts, varieties which are showy and stand transportation 
well are preferred to those more tender and of higher quality. 

The acreage of prunes is rapidly increasing, and though 
other sorts are locally popular, the French prune {prune cC Agen) 
is the universal favorite, and has shown a most fortunate adap- 
tation to Pacific Coast conditions, extending in its range from 
the coast to the Sierra, and from Southern California northward 
into Oregon. 

In the descriptions of Eastern and European standard vari- 
eties, which will follow, the new edition of J. J. Thomas' "Amer- 
ican Fruit Culturist "* is the basis, but local observations are 
inserted, especially as to size and quality, when demanded by 
California experience: — 

Caddo Chief. — "An exceedingly early plum, ripening with Early Richmond; 
cherry; medium size, firm; dark red." — ^_Tohn Rock. Approved by W. A. Sanders, 
Fresno County. 

Cherry. — "Very early, medium-sized, pafe red; sweet, juicy, and subacid." — 
John Rock Early shipments from Marysville and Vaca Valley sell well. Has 
been shipped from latter reyion as early as May 10. Tree very prolific. (See table.) 

Early Goldex Drop. — "Small, bright yellow, sugary and rich; separates 
freely from the stone. Early July. " — John Rock. Approved in Napa and San 
Benito Counties. 



■ Published by William Wood & Co., New York. 



344 



Prnniis Sinioni AppTOved. 



Peach. — (French: prune pec'ic.) Very large, roundish oblate, regular, flattened 
at ends, suture distinct shallow; color varying from salmon to light brownish red; 
stalk very short, cavity narrow, shallow; flesh rather coarse, juicy, sprightly, free 
from the nearly round, very flat, much furrowed stone; shoots smooth. A prom- 
inent variety for early Eastern shipment, (See table.) 

Imperial Ottoman. — Medium, oval suture on one side half way from base to 
apex; pale greenish yellow, marbled; very juicy, sweet, excellent; very hardy. Ap- 
proved in Siskiyou County. 

Wild Goose. — Medium, roundish, oblong, bright scarlet; a good variety of 
Chickasaw plum; hardy and productive. 

RoYALE Hative. — (French.) Medium, roundish, slightly wider at base; light 
purple, stalk half an inch long, stout, scarcely sunk; flesh amber yellow, with rich, 
high flavor, nearly free from the small, flattened ovate stone; shoots very downy. 
Largely grown as an early market plum and for Eastern shipment. (See table.) 

Prunus Simoni. — (Chinese.) Large, flattened, with deep cavities at base and 
apex; brick red or dark cinnabar color; stem very short, flesh fine, apricot yellow, 
with peculiar aromatic flavor; tree small, with large, long, oval elliptic leaves of dark 
shining green; flowers small, white; reaches its highest perfection in hot, dry summer 
air. (Condensed from Prof. J. L. Budd.) "Light green branches of Simoni grow as 
vigorous and upright as the Bartlett pear, and are heavily clothed with unusually 
long, narrow, light green leaves." — Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa. " Very fine as an 
early plum; ripens with Royale Hative, and ships well; large, six and a quarter to 
seven inches circumference; flesh firm, rich, sweet, aromatic, delicious, with marked 
pine-apple and faint banana flavors; pit very small.'' — L H. Thomas, Visalia. Ap- 
proved in Napa, Sonoma, and Tulare Counties. 




Prunus Simoni. 



Bradshaw. — Large, obovate, with obtuse suture on one side, sometimes with 
very slight neck; dark purple, with light blue bloom; stalk three-fourths inch long; 
cavity narrow; flesh a little coarse, becoming light brownish purple, at first adhering, 
but becoming nearly free when fully ripe; juicy, good, slightly acid; tree vigorous, 
shoots purple, smooth. Reported from Sacramento County as blooming late and 
seldom injured by frost. (See table.) 



Pliuns Largely Grozun in California. 345 

Green Gage. — (French.) Rather small, round; suture faint, green, becoming 
yellowish green, usually with reddish brown dots and network at base; stalk half to 
three-fourths inch, scarcely sunk: flesh pale green, melting, juicy, exceedingly rich, 
and flavor excellent; shoots smooth. (See table.) 

Duane's Purple. — (New York.) Very large, oblong oval, longer on one side; 
slightly narrowed towards the stalk; reddish purple, bloom lilac; stalk three-fourths 
inch, slender; cavity narrow; flesh juicy, moderately sweet, and moderate flavor; 
mostly adhering to stone; shoots very downy and leaves large and downy beneath. 
(See table.) 

McLaughlin. — (Maine.) Large, roundish oblate, much flattened at ends, 
suture obscure; stalk three-fourths inch, scarcely sunk; skin thin, tender, russet- 
yellow sprinkled with thin red, purplish at base; flesh rather firm, juicy, sweet, lus- 
cious; shoots smooth, leaves large and glossy. 

Washington. — (New York.) Very large, roundish oval, suture obscure, dis- 
tinct at base; yellowish green, faintly marbled, often with pale red blush; stalk half 
to three-fourths inch, slightly downy; cavity wide, shallow; flesh rather firm, sweet, 
mild, very rich and luscious, free from the pointed stone; shoots downy; very vigor- 
ous. (See table.) 

Yellow Egg; syns. White Egg, tVhite Magnum Bonuni. — (English.) Very 
large, oval, narrow at ends, necked at base, suture distinct; stalk one inch, not sunk, 
surrounded by fleshy ring at insertion; light yellow, bloom thin, white; flesh firm, 
rather acid until fully ripe, and then sweet; adheres to the pointed stone. (See table.) 

Lombard. — (New York.) Medium to large, round oval, slightly flattened at 
ends, suture obscure; violet red, stalk half to three-fourths inch, very slender; cavity 
broad; flesh deep yellow, lacks quality; hardy, shoots smooth and glossy, Hght pur- 
ple. Approved in Monterey and Butte Counties. 

Jefferson. — (New York.) Large, oval, base slightly narrowed, suture slight; 
greenish yellow, becoming golden, with reddish cheek, bloom thin, white; stalk one 
inch, but little sunk or not at all; flesh rich yellow, very rich, juicy, high flavored 
and luscious; adheres partly to its long, pointed stone; shoots smooth, tree a slow 
grower, but productive. (See table.) 

Columbia. — (New York.) Very large, nearly globular, one side slightly larger; 
brownish purple, reddish brown where much shaded, with many fawn-colored dots; 
bloom blue, copious; stalk one inch, rather stout; cavity small; flesh orange, very 
rich and sweet, free from the stone, which is very small and compressed. Shoots 
downy, stout, blunt, spreading; leaves nearly round. (See table.) 

Purple Favorite. — (New York.) Large, round obovate, no suture; brownish 
purple, thin light blue bloom, \pproved in Santa Cruz County. 

Red Diaper. — (French.^ Large, obovate, somewhat necked; reddish purple 
with few yellowish specks, bloom light blue. Approved in Sutter and San Benito 
Counties. 

Prince Engelbert. — (Belgium.) Large, oblong oval, deep bluish purple, 
with dense bloom; stalk rather slender, with a fleshy ring at base; cavity rather deep 
and narrow; flesh juicy, melting, sweet; free stone; shoots downy. Approved in 
Alameda, Placer and El Dorado Counties. 

Red Magnum Bonum; syn. Red Egg — Large, oval, tapering to the stalk; sut- 
ure strong, one side swollen; deep red in the sun, slight bloom; stalk one inch, 
slender, cavity narrow; flesh greenish, coarse, sub-acid; shoots smooth. (See table.) 

Prince of Wales. — (English.) Large, round, slightly oblong; reddish pur- 
ple, with thick bloom; flesh greenish yellow, sweet, sprightly; adheres to the stone. 
Approved in Santa Barbara County. 



346 Plums Chiefly Grozvn in California. 

Imperial Gage. — (New York.) Medium size, oval, suture distinct; stailt 
three-fourths inch, slightly hairy, evenly sunk; green, slightly tinged with yellow, 
with marbled green stripes; bloom copious and white; flesh greenish, juicy, melting, 
rich, and delicious; usually free from the oval, pointed stone; tree very vigorous and 
productive; shoots long, upright, slightly downy; leaves with slight shade of blue. 
A popular canning variety. (See table.) 

General Hand. — (Pennsylvania.) Very large, roundish oval; skin deep golden 
yellow; stalk long; flesh moderately juicy, but lacks quality; freestone; shoots nearly 
smooth. Approved in Contra Costa, Yolo, Yuba, and El Dorado Counties. 

Damson. — (English.) Small, roundish oval; purple, with thick blue bloom; 
melting, juicy, sub-acid. (See table.) 

Gehman Prune. — Common Quetsche. (Germany.) "This name has been 
applied in this State to numerous plums and prunes which are sold under it The 
fruit of the true German prune is long oval, and swollen on one side; skin purple, 
with thick, blue bloom; flesh firm; green, sweet, with a peculiar pleasant flavor; 
separa es readily from the stone."-— John Rock. Complaint is made in many local- 
ities of the tendency of the variety to drop before ripening, almost the whole crop 
sometimes dropping. The late John Lewelling claimed that an irrigation just before 
the tendency begins will hold the fruit. Others have claimed that thorough cultiva- 
tion would hold the fruit. Apparently the trouble is dependent upon moisture con- 
ditions to a certain extent at least. (See table. ) 

Kelsey Japan. — Trees brought from Japan by the late Mr. Hough, of Vaca- 
ville, in 1S70, and purchased by the late John Kelsey, of Berkeley, who propagated 
and fruited them for several years. First wide distriiiution was made by ^V. P. 
Hammon & Co., in 1884, who named the fruit after Mr. Kelsey. The following 
description is by H. E. V'andeman, U. S. Pomologist, from California and Florida 
specimens: " Tree upright in growth, leaves narrow, twigs brownish gray, resem- 
bling those of Pruniis chicasa more than those of P. doincstica; very productive, and 
apt to break down. Fruit from one and a half to two and a half inches diameter; 
heart-shaped, with a distinct suture on one side from stem to apex; stem is short, 
and set in a depression at the larger end; colors mixed yellow and purple, which 
vary in depth, but rarely make a brilliant appearance, covered with a bloom; flesh 
yellow, very firm, and clings to the stone, which is rather small, and nearly always 
partly surrounded by a cavity; when fully ripe the quality is very good." In Cali- 
fornia the tree resists drought remarkably; it is almost an evergreen, liable to injury 
in severe climates, but in the writer's garden at Berkeley, it restarted its growth very 
sooa after a temperature of 25° Fahr. had killed its leaves and most tender terminal 
shoots. Is likely to prove a profitable market and shipping variety. (See table.) 

QtJACKENBOS — (New York.) Large, oblong oval; deep purple; suture faint; 
stalk short, slightly sunk; slightly coarse, sprightly, sweet and sub-acid; jiarily free- 
stone, (See table.) 

Victoria — (English.) Large, obovate, suture distinct; color a fine light red- 
dish purple; stem half inch, cavity rather deep and narrow; flesh yellow, pleasant; 
clingstone; next to Pond's Seedling in size, beauty, and productiveness. Approved 
in Mendocino, Contra Costa, Alameda, Kern, and Fresno Counties. 

Hungarian Prune; syns. English Pond's Seedling; Grosse Prune d'Agen.— 
(English.) This variety was brought to San fose probably about 1856, and in some 
unaccountable way was first contrasted with the F"rench prune and called the "great 
prune of Agen;" afterwards, also in a mysterious way, it took the name "Hungarian 
prune." It is still marketed by these names both here and at the East. The true 
name is English Pond's Seedling. Fruit very large, ovate, slightly tapering to stalk; 
skin thick, reddish violet, with numerous brown dots, and covered with handsome 
bloom; rather coarse, juicy, sweet; a very showy fruit; tree a strong grower and 
prolific bearer; fruit has a tendency to double; sells well in local and distant mar- 
kets on its style. (See table.) 



Nezv Frendi Prunes. 



347 



Lot cV Elite. 




Mom Barbat d'Ente. 



Fuymirol d'Ente. 





French Prunes, California-Grown, by Feli.k Gili.et. 

Lot d'Ente, or if Ente- — The tyre of the Prune d'Ente, the most propagated in the valley of 
the Lot. It is altogether propagated by the rooting of sprouts growing at the foot of old and large 
trees themselves true from the root — that is, not grafted. The fruit is not uniformly pyriforrn, like 
that of the Mont Karbat, some of the trees bearing fruit of a more oval shape, as shown in the 
engraving. 

Moiit Rarhat it Ente. — From the orchard of that name, which means Barbat Hill, a type that 
obtained thirty-two first premiums for the bea ty and size of its prunes, at the District Fairs of the 
Lot, in France. 

Puymirol d'Ente-—1\i\% is another type of the d'Ente, but differing much in its botanical 
character from the d'Ente proper; it originated at Puymirol, in the southwest of France. The fruit 
is uniformly large and of a fine shape; it is somewhat more early than the d'Ente, very sweet, and 
dries well; it makes a first quality prune. The tree is productive, the fruit growing around the limbs 
much like the Greengages and St. Catherine, close together. 

Saint Catherine— Vr\x\l is of medium size, obovate or roundish oval,\vith a rather well-marked 
suture on one side; skin just thick enough to allow the fruit to dry splendidly; of a g. Iden pal- yel- 
low; overspread with a thin bloom, and s metimes becomi g rose violet on the sunny side. The 
flesh IS yellow, firm and juicy, adhering but little to the stone (here in California we find it a perfect 
freestone); the flavor is very rich, perfumed; one of the best prunes to eat fresh. A vigorous grower 
and cons ant bearer; fruit stands shipping well; dried it retains the most of its bulk, and turns very 
dark. 



348 Other Popular Varieties. 

Prune d'Agen; syns. Petite prune d'Agen; ^'French prune,''' etc. — This is the 
drying prune at present most-widely grown in this State. It is debcriljed by John 
Rock as follows: "Medium-sized, egg-shaped, violet purple, very sweet, rich and 
sugary; very prolific bearer. ' The first trees of the kind were grown by Louis Pellier, 
at San Jose, about the year 1S57, the graft having been brought from France by his 
brother in December, 1856. The identity of this variety (which was first largely 
grown in the neighborhood of San Jose), with the variety chiefly grown in the French 
district tributary to Agen, was first announced by W. B. West, of Stockton, in the 
year 1878, during his visit to France. Since that time there has been much discus- 
sion of the matter, and Mr. Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, has been to great pains to 
send samples of our fruit for examination by fruit experts. The conclusion at which 
Mr. Gillet arrives, as stated in his catalogue of 1888-89, 's as follows: "Our Petite 
prune is a true type of the d'Ente, its botanical characters being identical, and the 
fruit as richly flavored and sweet as that of its French ancestor. There is no such 
thing as a " Grosse " or " Petite " prune d'Ente or d'Agen, and such names have 
been used, and wrongly so, in this State. We finally succeeded in narrowing down 
this prune question to a simple f|uestion of "size," the fruit of the d"Ente in France 
attaining a much larger size than that of the California d'Ente, or Petite prune. 
But last summer's experience (1888) has demonstrated to us beyond a doubt that we 
were able to grow in California as large and fine prunes as are grown in the valley of 
the Lot, in France, if planting the same sorts and taking care of them and pruning 
them in the very same manner. Undoubtedly the soil and climate have much to do 
regarding the size and quality of prunes, and it cannot be reasonably expected that 
in certain sections of our State, as sweet and large prunes can be grown as in other 
sections more favorably adapted to that class of fruit. W'e exhibited at the meeting 
of the State Horticultural Society at San Francisco, on August 31, 1888, the largest 
d'Ente or French prunes, and also St. Catherine prunes, grown on our imported 
stock, that were ever grown in this State, some d'Ente prunes weighing as much as 
one and three-fourth ounces." 

Many prominent prune growers of California hold that the variety now chiefly 
grown in California is the true French prune, as declared by Mr. West, and attribute 
its variation in size, etc., to location, for it has been found that it is affected in a 
marked degree by local conditions. Mr. Gillet dissents from this conclitsion, and 
contends " that there are several distinct types of that prune, which differ greatly 
from each other, the botanical characters of each of these varieties being far from being 
identical." Acting on this belief, Mr. Gillet has imported and fruited other varieties 
which he considers superior to the prevailing California variety, and they are now 
being tried by other prune growers. The writer is indebted to Mr. Gillet for the 
descriptions and engravings on the preceding page. 

Robe de Sergent. — Though this term is given in Downing as a synonym of 
Prune d'Agen, and seems also to be in France a synonym for the d'Ente prunes, 
there is now being grown in this State from an importation by John Rock, of San 
Jose, another prune quite distinct from the foregoing. W. B. W^est, of Stockton, 
also imported a variety under this name, and describes it as distinct from the common 
French prune of this State, and superior to it. Mr. Rock describes the variety as 
follows: '* Fruit medium size, oval; skin deep purple, approaching black, and cov- 
ered with a thick blue bloom; flesh greenish yellow, sweet, and well flavored, sugary, 
rich and delicious, slightly adhering to the stone." 

As may be inferred from the foregoing, the nomenclature of the prune, as of 
other fruits in this State, is confused, and the future has much to determine. 

Burgundy Prune. Prune d'Agen (?). — Medium, ovate, necked, reddish black; 
juicy, rich, pleasant; freestone. Approved in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles Counties. 

Bulgarian. — "An undetermined variety grown under this name, chiefly in the 
vicinity of Haywards, Alameda County; above medium size, almost round, dark pur- 
ple; sweet and rich, with pleasant acid flavor; tree a vigorous grower, and an early, 
regular, and profuse bearer." — John Rock. Local comparisons with other prunes, as 
follows: "As prolific a bearer as the Petite prune, but holds its size with a heavy load 
of fruit much better. The tree is a more vigorous grower and forms a larger tree and 
bears its fruit more in the center of the tree. Closely resembles the Fellenberg or Ital- 
ian prune in form and size, but is not quite so large. It is rich and sweet when cured. 



Pacific Coast Seedlings. 349 

It is not a freestone but on some soils and in some seasons it has a tendency to 
loosen from the pit." — W. H. Jessup. "The Fellenberg and the Buli^arian make a 
black prune, and have a rich, pleasant, sub-acid flavor, when cured, and recjuire only 
a little sugar when cooked and prepared for the table." — W. C. Blackwood. Ap- 
proved in Sonoma, Alameda, Los Angeles, and Merced Counties. 

Coe's Golden Drop. — (English.) ^'ery large, oval, suture distinct, one side 
more enlarged, necked; light yellow, often dotted red to the sun; stalk three-fourths 
inch, rather stiff; flesh yellowish, firm, juicy, and rich, closely adhering to the pointed 
stone; shoots smooth, rather glossy. A standard late variety for canning. 

Bavay's Green Gage; syn. Rciue Claude de Bavay. — (French.) Large, 
round oval, greenish yellow, spotted with red, with small violet -colored lonpitudinal 
veins; flesh rather firm, juicy, sugary, rich, of fine quality, adhering slightly to the 
stone; shoots smooth, leaves roundish, shining; a free grower and very productive. 
Approved in Contra Costa, Alameda, Butte, Placer, and Amador Counties. 

IcKWORTH Imperatrice. — (English.) Large to medium, obovate, purple, 
with irregular streaks of fawn color; stalk medium; flesh greenish yellow, sweut, 
juicy, rich, mostly adhering to the rather small stone; shoots smooth. Very late, 
hangs long on the tree, and keeping well; endures long shipment well. Approved 
in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Butte, and Placer Counties. 

Fellenberg; syns. Large German Prune, Szaiss Frinie, Italian Prune. — Me- 
dium size, oval, pointed and tapering at both ends; suture small, distinct, dark 
purple, with dark blue bloom; stalk one inch, scarcely sunk; flesh greenish yellow, 
juicy, sweet, delicious, parts from the stone; tree a free grower and very productive; 
late, excellent for drying. 

St. Martin's Quetsche. — (German.) Size medium, ovate, broadest at base; 
surface pale yellow, often spotted with brown; bloom white; flesh yellowish, very 
juicy, rich, excellent; ripens late and keeps long; tree hardy and a good bearer; 
shoots smooth. Approved in Santa Cruz County. 

Coe's Late Red; syn. Red St. Mat-tin. — Size medium, roundish, suture dis- 
tinct on one side; skin light purplish red, or dark red; bloom thin, blue; stalk three- 
fourths inch, scarcely sunk; flesh rather firm, crisp, rich, vinous; very late; shoots 
downy. Approved in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties. 

PACIFIC COAST VARIETIES. 

Clyman. — (California.) Originated many years ago from seed planted by Mrs. 
Clyman, in Napa Valley; propagated by Leonard Coates, of Napa; mottled reddish 
purple, with beautiful blue bloom; freestone; flesh firm, dry, and sweet; ripens with 
cherry plum, but superior. J. M. Ba.ssford, of Vaca Valley, says it reseiiibles an 
under-sized peach plum, but ripens fully two weeks earlier. Tree very prolific. 

Tragedy Prune.— (California.) Originated with Mr. Runyon, near Court- 
land, Sacramento County. Introduced by W. R. Strong & Co.; appears to be cross 
"between German prune and Purple Duane; medium size, nearly as large as Duane, 
looks much like it. except that it is more elongated; skin dark purple; flesh yellow- 
ish green, very rich and sweet, parts readily from pit; ripens in June. "The first 
large plum to ripen; very fine, and valuable for Eastern shipment." — L. W. Buck. 

Silva's Koning Claudie; syn. Miller's Early. — An undetermined variety, 
brought from Germany by the late Dr. L. E. Miller, of Placer County, in 1854; 
first propagated for sale by C. M. Silva & Son. of Newcastle, in 1S77. A richly 
colored blue plum of fine flavor, about size of Royale Hative, but about a month 
earlier. Approved in Placer County. 

Glaister.— (California.) Introduced by Leonard Coates, of Napa; nearly as 
large as Yellow Egg, of same shape and color; two to three weeks earlier; a profit- 
able canning and shipping plum. Works well on peach root, which Yellow Egg 
does not. 

Silver Prune.— (Oregon.) Originated with W. H. Prettyman, who says: 
"It is a seedling from Coe's Golden Drop, which it much resembles, but it is much 
more productive; one tree of Silver prune produces more fruit than five of Coe's 
Golden Drop." "Samples of dried fruit brought the highest price in the San Fran- 
cisco market, and it is, in the judgment of fruit experts, because of its large size and 
superior flavor, entitled to rank first among prunes and drying plums."— John Rock. 




Japanese Plums — Kelsey and Satsuma. 



Nezv Japanese Phnns. 351 

Question of identit)' with Coe's Golden Drop is still in dispute between growers. 
Sells well as a market and shipping plum, and dries handsomely. 

Golden Prune. — Originated from seed of Italian prune by Seth Lewelling, of 
Milwaukie, Oregon, and described by him (in a letter to the writer, Nov. 27, 18S7) 
as larger than Italian, light golden color, exquisite fiavor, dries beautifully, and when 
dried twenty-four prunes weigh one pound; a beautiful grower, with heavy, dark 
green foliage, so heavy that the fruit is well protected; an abundant bearer, and one 
of the tinest canning fruits known; easily peeled and separates readily from the stone, 
which is quite small for the size of the fruit. 

Champion Prune. — Originated by the late Jesse Bullock, of Oswego, Or., 
from the seed of the Italian prune Named by the Oregon Horticultural Society. 
Ripens three or four weeks before the Italian; large and round, of a reddish purple 
bloom; flesh very firm, and of a sweet, vinous fiavor, and parts from the stone freely. 
The tree is a good grower, and an abundant early bearer. 

Burbank's Seedlings. — Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, exhibited at the 
meeting of the State Horticultural Society, August 31, 1 888, seventy seedlings of 
the French prune of his own growing. They were of great variety in form, size, 
and color, from golden yellow to almost black; size from a pigeon's egg to a large 
hen's egg, and in form, from oblong to nearly round. He has also fruited fifteen 
seedlings of Hungarian prune (English Pond's Seedling), which also show a great 
variety of characteristics. Some of these seedlings will no doubt be found of great 
value. 

recently introduced JAPANESE PLUMS. 

During the last few years there have been importations of Japanese plums by 
several parties, and some of the recently introduced varieties promise to become 
even more popular than the Kelsey, the pioneer of Japanese fruits in this State, has 
already become. Among the most notable of the recently introduced sorts are the 
following: — 

BoTAN. — Dark yellowish red, with white bloom; sweet, rich, juicy, and deli- 
cious; tree vigorous, upright. 

Chabot. — Greenish purple, very large and firm; tree vigorous and a good bearer. 

Satsuma; syn. Blood Plum of Satsuma. — Introduced and first fruited in this 
country by Luther Rurliank, of Santa Rosa. Described by Prof. H. E. Van Deman, 
U. S. Pomologist, as follows: "Leaves more lanceolate than those of Kelsey; fruit 
averages about two and a quarter inches in diameter; nearly round, and but slightly 
sutured on one side; surface dark red, under a thick bloom; dots rather conspicuous 
and numerous; flesh dark purplish red, which has caused the name of 'Blood Plum 
of Satsuma' to be given by some; stone very small and pointed." 

Specimens of Satsuma sent to the writer by Mr. Burbank in August, 18S7, were 
described as follows: Almost globular, being six and three-fourths inches around, 
horizontally, and six and five-eights inches around, vertically; color is dark red, al- 
most solid color, except a slightly lighter shade in the suture; bloom thin and of a 
lilac shade; flesh dark red — solid color from skin to pit, firm, rather juicy, and of 
good flavor. Pit very small; three-fourths by half inch; ripens much earlier than 
the Kelsey. 

Burbank. — Tree imported from Japan by Luther Burbank, and found to difter 
in growth and fruit from other Japanese varieties. Named "Burbank " by Professor 
Van Deman. Tree unusually vigorous, with strong, upright shoots, and large, rather 
broad leaves; comes into bearing very early. The fruit described by the writer from 
specimens sent by Mr. Burbank in August, 1887, as follows: Almost globular, being 
five and a half inches around, horizontally, and five and five-eighths inches around, 
vertically; rich cherry red, slightly mottled with yellow and freely dotted with same 
tint; flesh deep yellow, juicy, very sweet, and of fine, somewhat peculiar, but very 
agreeable flavor. The pit is very small; three-fourths l>y a trifle over half inch in 
diameter. 

TABULAR STATEMENT OF ADAPTATIONS. 

The table on the following page is prepared as already 
described in chapters on other fruits preceding. 



352 



Plums Chiefly Groivn in California. 



TABLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM ACTUAL GROWERS, NAMING VARIETIES OF 
THE PLUM CONSIDERED MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES INDICATED. 



Plt;^ 



Counties 
OF California. 



Del Norte 

Humboldt 

Mendocino . . . . 

Lake 

Napa 

Sonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa . . . . 

Alameda 

Santa Clara 

San Mateo 

Santa Cruz . . . . 

San Benito 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo , 
Santa Barbara. . . 

Ventura 

Los Angeles 

San Diego 

San Bernardino. . 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus 

San Joaquin. . . . 
Sacramento . . .. 

Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El Dorado 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne 

Mariposa 

Alpine 

Mono 

Inyo 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

THE QUINCE. 

The quince enjoys California conditions to the utmost, and 
rewards the grower with large crops of very large and beautiful 
fruit. A quince weighing a pound is no curiosity, and it is un- 
likely that any city of the world can show such fine quinces at 
such low prices as San Francisco. The lesson from this fact is, 
that the fineness of the fruit, and the evident adaptation of the 
State to its growth, should not alone be considered by the 
planter. The local consumption of quinces is naturally small, 
and it is chiefly for home preserving and jelly making. The 
commercial jelly makers use apple juice as the basis of nearly 
all their jellies, only using a little quince for flavoring, and some 
housewives follow the same course. The hope for profitable sale 
of the fruit in large quantities must therefore rest on distant mar- 
kets, and though those well acquainted with the growth and sale 
of the fruit in the cities of the Mississippi Valley, have predicted a 
great demand for the California quince in that territory, experi- 
ences of shippers thus far have been varied, and not such as to 
induce the extension of our quince production, at present at 
least. 

Robert Howe, of Sonoma Valley, is the largest quince 
grower in California. He has twenty acres, planted with three 
thousand two hundred trees of the apple and orange varieties. 
The orchard is now ten years old. Considerable fruit was pro- 
duced sooner, but in 1885, when the trees were in their seventh 
year, they bore their first full crop, which amounted to about 
two thousand four hundred boxes. Later crops have been, of 
course, heavier, and Mr. Howe writes me that his trees, trained 
as standards, are about as large as his peach trees of the same 
age. He finds his quinces about as profitable as apples, 
but he wisely adds, " They would not be if they were as 
plenty as apples." He ships about three-fourths of his crop to 
Eastern markets, the balance to San Francisco. 

But though the quince in California has at present narrow 
commercial limitations, a few trees should find a place in every 
orchard for family use or for local sale. 

23 (353) 



354 Culture and Soil for the Quince. 

CULTURE OF THE QUINCE. 

The quince is readily grown from cuttings. Take good- 
sized shoots of well-matured wood of the current year's growth, 
after the leaves drop in the fall, and set out at once in nursery 
row in moist, alluvial soil, or in any loose soil which is well 
drained and can be kept moist enough by cultivation or irriga- 
tion. Mr. Howe put out his cuttings in a low, sandy place in 
Sonoma Creek, and the winter's high water seemed to help them, 
for he secured a fine lot of trees by the first year's growth of the 
cutting. 

Quinces are planted at all distances apart, and are grown 
either as bushes or trees. Undoubtedly the best way is to plant 
about fourteen or sixteen feet apart, and prune into low standard 
tree form. This can be done much as already advised for other 
fruit trees. An annual cutting back of about half of the new 
growth, while forming the tree, will strengthen the trunk and limbs 
and prevent the running out of long leaders, which droop to the 
ground on all sides when laden with fruit, and are often broken 
by the weight and the wind. Owing to the disposition of the 
quince to throw out several small shoots at a single point, it is 
advisable, when forming the tree, to remove all buds but one, 
just as the growth is starting. This will give one good, strong 
branch where it may be needed, instead of several weak ones. 
Pinching of shoots which start out too vigorously, or at unde- 
sirable points, is, of course, advisable. 

Soils for the Quince. — As the quince grows naturally 
in moist, though not wet, lands, many persons think it always 
does best in springy ground or along the banks of rivulets; but 
though moist soils are preferable to dry — such positions are not 
essential to obtaining large crops of fine fruit. In fact, the 
quince, like most fruit trees, prefers a well-drained location, and 
does best on a soil which can be freely worked. It thrives when 
fanned by the ocean breeze and does fairly well in the interior, 
providing it has moisture enough in the soil, and in some situa- 
tions will doubtless require summer irrigation. 

VARIETIES OF THE QUINCE. 

Though probably all varieties of the quince are introduced 
by our nurserymen and carried by them in small stock, most 
plantations are of the " apple " or " orange " variety. The fol- 
lowing may be enumerated, however, as growing in this State: — 

Apple or Orange. — Large; bright yellow; the best. August and September. 

Angers. — Large; yellow; a strong-growing sort, and abundant bearer. October 
and November. 



Lcadi)ig Quince Varieties. 355 

PtTRTUGAL. — Very large, and fine flavor, turns a fine purple or deep crimson 
when cooked. 

Rea's Mam>[OT!I. — A v^-ry large and fine variety of the Orange Quince; a 
strong grower and very productive. 

Champion. —Fruit very large, fair and handsome. Tree very productive, sur- 
passing any other variety in this respect, bears abundantly when young, flesh cooks as 
tender as the apple, and without hard spots or cores; flavor delicate, imparting an ex- 
quisite quince taste and odor to any fruit with which it is cooked. 

The Chinese Quince. — A most extraordinary fruit, oblong, of immense size, 
often weighing from two to two and one-half pounds. Growth rapid and distinct. 

Meech's Prolific. — First decribed as the " pear-shaped orange quince." Ob- 
scure pyriform, very large; bright golden yellow, fragrant and of high flavor. Named 
for \V. W. Meech, author of a book on Quince Culture, published in 1888, by 
Orange Judd Co., of New York, 

West's Mammoth. — Originated by W. B. West, of Stockton, from seed re- 
ceived from Boston in 1853; of the orange quince family; round; clear yellow; very 
large;".fine flavor and for the class a very good keeper. " It was so large and had so 
many fine paints that in my nursery business I propagated no other. It has been 
distributed over the State, and in our county no other is used." — W. B. West. 



Part Fourth: The Grape. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE GRAPE INTEREST. 

The culture of the grape is one of the great divisions of 
CahTornia horticulture, and constitutes an industry of great 
accomplishment and still greater promise. Its three chief 
divisions are: Grapes for the table, grapes for wine, and grapes 
for raisins. In all these branches, the product has far exceeded 
local requirements and has become an important item in the ex- 
port trade of the State, and yet, considering the special adapta- 
tion of California conditions to grape culture and the importance 
of grape products in the world's commerce, it is confidently 
believed that the vine industry of the State is but in its infancy. 

Though the grape was one of the earliest of the fruits in- 
troduced upon California soil, as has already been shown in the 
chapter relating to the fruits of the old Missions, it is but re- 
cently that grape products have reached large amounts, and the 
producers are still confronted with problems in the growth of 
the vine and' in the manufacture and marketing of its products 
which will require the fullest devotion, the keenest intelligence, 
and the brightest spirit of enterprise to bring to satisfactory 
solution. For this reason the industry is progressive and fit to 
awaken patience, perseverance, energy, and acumen among those 
who intelligently pursue it. 

Not only was the grape the first fruit in the esteem of the 
old Mission Fathers, but its culture has always been a favorite 
enterprise since the American occupation. As early as 1855 
large collections of the best European varieties were brought into 
the State, a leader in this work being Mr. A. Delmas, of San 
Jose, who secured cuttings in France, which, being packed in 
boxes, successfully withstood a six months' journey around the 
Horn. In 1858 Mr. Delmas had one hundred and five Eu- 
ropean varieties growing, and many of them in bearing. 

The opportunity for California in the grape industry was 
foreseen very early, and with such clearness that State aid toward 
its realization was successfully invoked for it first of all indus- 
(356) 



TJie Groii'tJi of the Grape Interest. 357 

tries in the early days, and in the later days of fostering com- 
missions the grape was first to enjoy such an agency of advance- 
ment. 

It is an interesting fact that b^th of these progressive 
movements, though separated by an interval of about twenty 
years, had their leadership vested in the same name: Col. Agos- 
ton Haraszthy leading in the awakening of 1858, and his son, 
Arpad Haraszthy, being at the front in the revival of 1880. 
Such being the important place held by the Haraszthys in the 
history of the grape in this State, it is the more acceptable to 
introduce a condensed sketch of the rise and progress of viticult- 
ure in California, in the words of the present representative of 
the family. 

Although the grape-vine was planted in California by the old Mission Fathers as 
early as 1770, but little progress was made in this branch of agriculture till 1858. 
Governor Downey appointed, in 1861, three commissioners "to report upon the 
best means and ways to promote the improvement and culture of the grape-vine in 
California." My father, the late Agoston Haraszthy, who was one of the members 
of this commission, visited the principal viticultural regions of Europe, returning 
with much valuable information and two hundred thousand cuttings and rooted vines 
of every variety found in Europe, Asia Minor, Persia, and Egypt. In 1870 the produc- 
tion of wine and table grapes was greater than the demand, and in 1875 many vineyards 
were either abandoned or uprooted Some four or five years later, however, the 
demand had again increased, which, with a small crop, caused an advance in the 
price of wine, and thus the beginning of what may really be termed the viticultural 
industry of California. 

In March, 1880, the State Legislature created the Board of Viticulture, dividing 
the State into seven viticultural districts, each of which had a representative on the 
Board, besides two extra commissioners, representing the State at large. 
For the last few years we have been advancing more rapidly than was ever antici- 
pated in all branches of the business. A large quantity of valuable literature has been 
published, our product has increased largely, and we have been endeavoring to extend 
our markets. When the Viticultu al Commission was organized, in 18S0, there were 
about thirty-five thousand acres of vines planted in the State, of which twenty per 
cent were imported varieties of grapes, the remainder being the old Mission variety. 
To-day, after the commission has been in existence for eight years, it is estimated that 
there are planted not less than one hundred and fifty thousand acres in vines, and fully 
ninety percent of the wine-grape area consists of the tine grades of foreign wine-grape 
varieties, which have been obtained from the principal wine countries of the world. 

In this paragraph Mr. Haraszthy's attention is naturally 
centered on the work of the commission in which he labored with 
much zeal, but it should be mentioned that the State Viticultu- 
ral Society, a private organization supported by enterprising 
vineyardists, and of which he was also president, was clearly the 
progenitor of the commission. It was under the auspices of this 
society that Mr. Charles A. Wetmore undertook his important 
mission abroad and returned so full of confidence in the future 
of the wine interest of the State if the product should be properly 
improved, and so thoroughly informed on what should consti- 
tute the main features of that improvement, that the way seemed 



358 State Aid to Viticulture. 

clear for the creation of the commission and for the valuable 
work which it has accomplished. It should be noted also that it 
was under the auspices of that old volunteer society that Prof. 
E. W. Hilgard, of the State University, began his viticultural 
work in 1875, by his lecture on the phylloxera, which, in pub- 
lished form, did much to arouse the grape growers to the im- 
portance of seeking defense against the foe which had gained a 
foot-hold in Sonoma Valley. Thus it appears that though the 
State is to be credited with enterprise and appreciation in pro- 
motion of the grape interest, there were important individual 
acts preceding the appropriation of State money and leading up 
to it, which should not be forgotten. 

Provided for by the same act which established the \^iticult- 
ural Commission, and beginning with it in practical accomplish- 
ment in the year 1880, was the work under direction of Professor 
Hilgard in the Viticultural Laboratory of the State University at 
Berkeley, and this work has been of incalculable value in furnish- 
ing a scientific basis upon which the selection of grape varieties, 
the determination of resistant stocks, and the manufacture of 
wines and similar important matters, have proceeded. Instruc- 
tion in viticulture and viniculture has accompanied investigation, 
and the work has proved so popular and satisfactory that in- 
creased facilities have been provided from year to year, until at 
present the laboratories and experimental cellars at Berkeley are 
as well equipped as any in the world, and the six outlying culture 
stations in the different parts of the State afford means for 
testing the growth of grape varieties which properly complements 
the investigation of the products derived from them in the labo- 
ratories and cellars of the central station in Berkeley. 

Recently, too, the State Viticultural Commission has greatly 
enlarged and improved its working facilities and introduced feat- 
ures for the exhibition of grape products and for promoting traf- 
fic therein which promise much for the profitable extension and 
commercial stability of the industry. 

Personal visits to the State institutions mentioned are com- 
mended to all interested in the grape and its products. At the 
headquarters of the Viticultural Commission, 216 Montgomery 
Street, San Francisco, the visitor will find Chas. A. Wetmore, 
chief executive officer, Clarence J. Wetmore, in charge of ex- 
periments and exhibits, and Charles B. Turrill, secretary of 
the commission, who are always ready to impart information. 
At the University Agricultural Experiment Station at Berkeley, 
Professor Hilgard and his assistants can be consulted by en- 
quirers. 

These State institutions have yielded, as one of their bene- 
fits, a very valuable collection of pamphlets and reports which 



Statistics of Grape Products. 359 

should be sought for by all grape planters. Application for 
them can be made to the parties named above. 

There have also appeared several private publications on 
the grape which the grower will find valuable. Because of these 
available supplies of California literature of the grape and its 
products,* the writer of this treatise proposes to restrict his 
treatment of the subject to certain plain details of culture which 
it is hoped will be sufficient to enable the reader to proceed with 
the growth of a vineyard, but he is urged to provide himself as 
far as possible with the general literature on the subject, because 
the limits of this work preclude allusion to many themes of 
special character and value. 

EXTENT OF THE VINE INTERE.ST AND ITS PRODUCTS. 

Pertinent to the subject is a statement of the extent of the 
grape interest of California, -f-the capital invested, and the products 
for a series of years, as follows: 

RAISIN'S (20-lb. boxes). WINE (gallons). 

1873 6,000 

1874 9,000 

1875 11,000 

1876 19,000 

1877 32,000 4,000,000 

187S 48,000 5,000,000 

1879 65,000 7,000,000 

1880 75,000 10,200,000 

1881 90,000 8,000,000 

1882 115,000 9,000,000 

1883 140,000 8,500,000 

1884 175,000 10,000,000 

1885 500,000 11,000,000 

1886 703,000 18,000,000 

1887 800,000 15,000,000 

1888 915,000 17,000,000 

Of the wine product it is estimated that four million gal- 
lons were distilled into about one million gallons of brandy. 
The raisin output does not include the product of dried wine 
grapes, which is estimated at two million pounds in 1888. 

*The grape litera ure of California includes the following: — 

"Grape Culture, Wines and Wine Making," by A. Haraszthy: Plarper Bros., N. Y., 8x0,420 pp., 
1862. 

"Hand-book of Grape Culture," by T. Hart Hyatt: A. L. Bancroft & Co., S. F., i2mo, 315 pp., 
second edition, 1876. 

"The Wine Press and the Cellar," by E. H. Rixford: Payot, Upham & Co., S. F., Svo, 240 pp., 
1883. 

"Grape Culture and Wine Making in California," by George Husman:i: Payot, Upham Cs: Co.. 
S. F., i2mo, 3S0PP., 1888. 

"Reports of State B ard of Viticultural C ■mmissioners," and numerous appendices thereto, 1881 
to i838: published by the State. 

"Reports of Viticultural Work at the University of California." and numerous bulletins. 1881 to 
1888: published by the State. 

* 

fThe estimate of the raisin product is by (jeo. \V. Meade ,^ Co.; that of the wine product by the 
State Viticultural Commission. 



360 The Grape Area of California. 

It is assumed that there are now planted in CaUfornia 150,- 
000 acres of vines, which will all be in full bearing within three 
years. Allowing these an average value of $300 per acre, with- 
out other improvements, we will have a valuation of $45,000,000. 
Of course there are vineyards not worth $200 per acre, but these 
are few in number and either planted with the Mission or some 
other equally common varieties of grapes. On the other hand, 
many of our vineyards are worth considerably more than $300 
per acre, which difference would more than balance the dis- 
crepancy of the above estimates. Mr. Haraszthy reckons the 
value of the improvements necessary to carry on the vineyard busi- 
ness successfully at $20,000,000. These improvements consist 
offences, houses, barns, cellars, presses, tanks, casks, distilleries, 
agricultural implements and machinery, live stock, etc. These 
two estimates thus made would place the present capital invested 
in viticulture in California at $65,000,000. This is believed to be 
four and one-half times as great as the amount invested in the 
year 1880.* 

THE GRAPE AREA OF CALIFORNIA. 

The grape has a very wide range in California. If the im- 
mediate sea coast and the higher altitudes on the mountains be 
excepted the grape may be planted with a good chance of suc- 
cess anywhere if soil and local topography be suitable. As has 
been shown in Chapter I, the vine can approach quite close to 
the ocean if some shelter from prevailing cool winds be afforded, 
and quite high on the mountains if one keeps out of depressions 
where late frosts are frequent. In planting the grape in doubt- 
ful situations much depends upon choice of proper varieties. 
For example, in the cool air of the coast region, earl}- maturing 
varieties must be the main reliance, for late sorts will not receive 
heat enough to bring them to full maturity. 

Away from immediate coast influences, and up to perhaps 
three thousand feet or more on the sides of the Sierra, the grape 
is successfully grown both upon the floors of the valleys and 
upon the hillsides. But there is still need of choice both of 
special locations and of varieties according to the purposes which 
the grower has in view. The coast valleys of the upper part of 
the State produce good table grapes, but they are unfavorable for 
the raisin industry because of the deficient sunshine and ex- 
cessive atmospheric humidity of the autumn months. The best 
raisins are made in the dry, heated valleys of the interior, and the 
conditions which there develop the fullest quality in the raisin 



*CondenseQ from the address of Arpad Haraszthy on retiring from the presidency of the Viticult- 
ural Commission in June, i88S. 



Effects of Local Influences. 36 1 

grape also develop the sugar in some kinds of wine grapes be- 
yond a desirable percentage. Here again the choice of suitable 
varieties intrudes itself, for the varieties which yield light table 
wines in the coast valleys may yield heavy " heady " wines in the 
interior. Valleys, too, as a rule, although they yield larger crops 
of grapes and greater measure of wine than similar area on the 
hillsides, must \'ield the palm for quality to the warm soils of the 
slopes. And here enters the business proposition whether large 
amount and less quality is better than less amount and higher 
quality. To this there can be no general answer. It depends 
upon the disposition which is to be made of the crop, and the de- 
mand for it. 

These few facts out of many which could be stated will 
serve to enforce the fact that wide as is the range of the grape, 
both localities and varieties for certain purposes must be intelli- 
gently chosen. Much has been learned during the last few years, 
but it will require the experience of another generation, perhaps, 
to make the matter clear. 

Soils for the Grape. — The grape will thrive on a great 
variety of soils, in fact, on any of those enumerated as fruit soils 
in Chapter III. There are thrifty vineyards on the light, deep 
valley loams, on the heavy clayey loams, on adobe, and on the red 
soils of the foot-hills. Even on shallow soils the grape will do 
well if given sufficient moisture, and on rocky subsoils it thrives 
if there be crevises for the roots to penetrate, or if the rock be 
shattered to admit the roots to permeable substrata as described 
on page 134. Standing water during the active period of the 
vine is, however, unfavorable to growth, and the touch of alkali is 
fatal to any satisfactory results of wine making. Almost any 
soil which does not hold excess of water or is not tainted with 
alkali will do for the vine, although the plant appreciates good, 
deep soil, and will grow and bear fruit in proportion to its supply 
of it. Of course the economic question of ease of cultivation en- 
ters into the choice of soil for the grape, as for other fruits, but its 
claims are obvious and need not be enlarged upon. 

Length of the Grape Season. — By choice of early and 
late varieties the grape season extends over a half year in Cali- 
fornia, without recourse to artificial means of preservation. 
Where the fall rains are not very protracted, the late varieties 
keep in good condition on the vines until the winter pruning. 
Good grapes have been picked from the vines as late as the mid- 
dle of January. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PROPAGATING AND PLANTING VINES. 

The grape is propagated from seed or by layers, or b}^ cut- 
tings of various lengths. Growing from seed is only resorted to in 
California to get stocks for resisting the phylloxera, and even in 
securing such stocks, cuttings are more generally used than seed- 
lings. There is at present no disposition to grow grape seed- 
lings in the hope of securing better and hardier varieties, as is 
so largely done in other parts of the country. The vast numbers 
of varieties of the European species, vinifera, which we have 
to draw from, makes the effort for new seedlings of little object. 

Growing Vines from Seed. — Seed is easily removed from 
wild grapes by crushing the berries and stirring the pulp rapidly 
in water. The wild fruit may be gathered from the vines which 
are found along streams in most parts of the State, but it is de- 
sirable to gather from vines which are far removed from any 
cultivated vines, to escape danger of hybridization. Mr. C. 
Mottier, of Harbins Springs, Lake County, who has made a 
specialty of seed of the Vitis Californica for a number of years, 
insists strongly on this point. Professor Husmann says that one 
pound of good, fresh seed will give from two to three thousand 
seedlings. 

Some advocate sowing grape seed in the fall, just as it is 
taken from the fruit, but best results are usually obtained by 
spring sowing. Nor is it advisable to sow too early, for fear of 
frost on the young plants. In the University experiments at 
Berkeley, the best results have been attained by sowing grape 
seed the last of March or first of April. Professor Husmann 
advises sowing in February or March, delaying the sowing in 
frosty situations. 

It is advisable to keep grape seed moist for some time be- 
fore sowing. Mr. Klee's practice at the University gave quick- 
est germination with seed soaked one week in water, and after- 
ward allowed to lie in a heap for three weeks. The greater 
part of such seed started in ten days or two weeks after being 
put in the ground. Professor Husmann advises pouring hot 
water on the seed and allowing it to cool, the seed remaining in 
(362) 



I ^ines from Seeds and Layers. 



563 



the water for twelve hours, and after that it is kept for a week in 
a sack, exposed to the sun, and covered at night, the saok being 
moistened from time to time. 

The seed should be sown in the open ground, the soil having 
been worked deeply and finely, as for a garden. Sow the seeds 
about an inch apart, in drills far enough from each other to 
admit of the use of the cultivator in the summer; cover not to ex- 
ceed an inch in depth, and after moderate pressing of the ground 
cover the whole bed with rotten straw, which should be gradually 
removed as the sprouts appear above theground. This mulch will 
not only retain moisture, but will prevent the surface from being 
crusted by heavy showers. Summer cultivation with cultivator 
and hoe should be given. In good soil in a favorable situation 
a considerable portion of the seedlings will reach grafting size 
during the first summer's growth. Their subsequent treatment 
will be considered in connection with grafting the vine. 

Growing Vines by Layering. — This is another method 
of multiplying vines which is but little employed in California, 




L.wERiNG TO Multiply Yines. 
because it is so much easier to secure pi mts by cuttings, as the 
vinifera species roots so readily. Layering consists in bending 
down and burying a cane so as to facilitate top and root growth 
from each of the buds. The engraving shows an old vine stump, 
one of the lower canes of which has been layered, and from which 
shoots are expected, as shown by the dotted lines. To hold the 
cane in place, stakes are used. The engraving shows the cane 
as just ready to start into growth, the filling of the trench being 
deferred until the lateral shoots grow out considerably, and then, 
by covering, the roots are developed. The cane must rest in 
moist earth, and usually has to be watered artificially, as well as 
treated to prevent evaporation. The following winter the cane 
is raised and a plant made at each node. 



364 



Single-Eye Cuttings. 



Another use for layering" is to fill a vacancy in the row, a 
cane being taken from the nearest living vine, as shown in the 
engraving. In this case the laj'er must be set in a deep trench 
so as not to be torn out b}^ the plow, and the layered cane is at 
once covered in with earth, all but one or two buds at the ex- 
tremity, where the new vine is desired. In the engraving the 
cane is g^iven a twist around the old stump so that it may enter 
the ground where it will not be caught by the cultivator. Such 
a layer usually bears the second year and is then detached from 
the parent vine. 

Both the layers described are laid down early in the spring, 
before growth starts in the vine. Summer layers of the current 
season's growth are sometimes made, but are not usually satis- 
factory. 




Layering to fill a Vacancy. 

Growing Vine.s from Cuttings- — This is the prevailing 
method in this Stale both to secure grafting stocks and to grow 
vines on their own roots. In growing from cuttings, different 
policies are adopted, /. e.., placing the cuttings in permanent place 
in the vineyard, or rooting them in nurser}' to be afterward trans- 
ferred to the vineyard as " rooted vines." First, the various kinds 
of cuttings will be considered, and their placing mentioned later. 
Growth from Single Eyes. — The 
use of single eyes or single buds, the short- 
est possible form of cutting, is not large in 
California, but some growers have reported 
good results. The method is to prepare the 
cuttings as shown in the engraving, and 
plant them carefully, with the bud upwards, 
Cutting with Single j,-, well-prepared soil, covering the cutting 
completely, but very little under the surface. 
Success depends upon retension of moisture in the surface soil 




Cuttings of Various Forms. 



$65 




Growth from 
Single Eye. 



to induce rooting, and mulching is advisable. This method of 
propagation, too, seems best adapted to the moistcr parts of the 
State, whence, in fact, most success with it has been reported. 
Besides economy of wood in getting a plant from 
each bud of the cane, which is sometimes an object, 
growing from single eyes is advocated because of 
the satisfactory root system secured, which, as the 
engraving shows, much resembles that of a seed- 
ling. The use of single ej-es is obviously better 
adapted to nursery than to field growth. 

The Use of Longer Cuttings. — There 
are several kinds of cuttings generally recognized 
by vine growers, of which two may be specified, as 
follows: The ordinary cutting, consisting wholly of 
the wood of the previous season's growth and a cut- 
ting which retains more or less of the older growth. 
Where the cutting retains a small cross-section of an 
older cane, it is termed a " mallet cutting," from its 
obvious resemblance thereto, as shown at B in the 
engraving. Some hold that this round piece of 
old wood is undesirable because it is apt to decay, 
and they restrict the old wood to the top fragment, 
which carries the dormant buds at the base of the cane. Such a 
cutting is shown at C in engraving. 

Though the use of the old wood is correct enough in theory 
and satisfactory in practice, it is 
the ordinary cutting, shown at A 
in the engraving, which is relied 
upon in vine propagation. There 
is, however, wide difference in 
opinion and practice as to how 
long this cutting should be to se- 
cure the best results. Ordinary 
cuttings, as used in California, vary 
in length from ten inches to three 
feet. Clearly enough this dis- 
agreement is due in part, at least, 
to different local conditions under 
which the vine is to make its 
growth, but two things are generally accepted as the result of 
California practice, and this is, perhaps, only confirmatory of ex- 
perience abroad: First, \.\\?i\. the tendency is toward the use of 
shorter cuttings than formerly; second, that where the longer 
are used, they should be set obliquely, so as not to bury the 
lower extremities too deeply in the ground. What distance is 



Different Forms of Cuttings. 



366 Treatment of Cuttings. 

too deep depends, to a great degree, upon the soil and locality, 
for a cutting 'will grow good roots at a much lower level in the 
light, warm loams of the interior valleys than in any other soil 
or situation, and longer cuttings are used in the interior than in 
the coast regions. Experience of successful vine growers in 
different districts may be usually had for the asking by the new- 
comer, and is the safest rule of practice. If local opinions differ 
somewhat, the inquirer must adjudicate the matter to the best 
of his ability. The usual length of cuttings is from eighteen to 
twenty inches. 

Making and Caring for Cuttings. — Cuttings can be 
taken from the vines at any time after the fall of the leaf and 
before the spring flow of sap begins. The earlier cuttings — 
those taken before January — are more likely to make a success- 
ful start and after-growth than those cut later in the season. 

It is common, however, to defer preparation of cuttings till 
the pruning is done, be it 'early or late, and this will generally 
answer the purpose, if care be taken to secure the cuttings im- 
mediately at the pruning; but if the branches be allowed to lie 
upon the ground for days, exposed to sun, wind, or frost, be- 
fore the cuttings are secured, their chances of growth are seriously 
lessened, and a good part of the failures in planting is due to 
such cuttings. 

Cuttings should be taken from short-jointed, well-ripened 
wood of the previous year's growth, cut squarely and smoothly, 
just below a bud. Cuttings from the middle or top end of 
branches are not so likely to root, nor to grow so vigorously, as 
those from the butts or ends nearest the old wood. 

Keep them dormant until the time comes to set them in 
the vineyard, else the tender shoots may get broken. To keep 
them back, place them, at the pruning, in shallow trenches, top 
down, on the north side of a close board fence or a building, 
cover the butts with loose earth, and over that throw some straw 
and boards. Take care that the trenches are in moist but not 
wet ground, as too much moisture rots the cuttings. If the 
ground should not be moist enough, or if the cuttings seem 
dry or withered, plunge them in water to within three or four 
inches of their top, for a few days before setting, and do not let 
them dry again before planting. 

Rooting Cuttings in Nursery. — What has been written 
is in reference to cuttings designed for placing in permanent 
position in the vineyard, but, for the most part, applies as well 
to the preparation of cuttings for the nursery. For nursery 
treatment however, shorter cuttings can be used than for field 
planting, because of the better cultivation and more generous 
moisture conditions which are usually provided. 



Budding the Vine. 367 

In preparation of ground for the rooting of vines and the 
planting of cuttings therein the suggestions in Chapter VIII 
are directly applicable, as, to secure rooting of the cuttings, there 
is just as great need for deep and fine working of the soil, press- 
ing of it around the cutting, and for careful culture during the 
growing season, as there is for such treatment of fruit-tree seed- 
ling or root graft. It is just as necessary, too, that the rooted 
cuttings should be carefully lifted and guarded from drying out 
while on the way from the nursery to permanent place. The 
reader is, therefore, referred to Chapter VIII for suggestions on 
preparation, laying out, and care of nursery ground intended 
for the rooting of grape cuttings. 

There is a growing tendency to use rooted vines instead of 
cuttings in planting out vineyard, for although the former cost 
several times as much as the latter, either in the time of the 
grower or in cash outla}^, the balance is believed to be usually 
on the other side, when the uniform stand and more satisfactory 
growth secured by rooted vines are considered. 

BUDDING AND GRAFTING THE GRAPE-VINE. 

Working over the grape-vine is largely practiced in this 
State and is easily accomplished. The occasion is twofold, 
replacing undesirable varieties with those of better quality, or in 
better market demand, and in bringing the vinifera varieties 
upon roots which resist the attacks of the phylloxera. The em- 
ployment of resistaiU stocks has proved eminently satisfactory 
in this State, the resistant stock having been successfully installed 
even in the hole from which the dead vinifera root has been taken. 
For this reason resistant roots are largely relied upon in the 
planting of new vineyards in infested districts, and are also used 
in regions where the insect is not now found, by those who fear 
and desire to provide against its coming. 

Budding the Grape. — Buds can be readily made to grow 
in grape canes, though budding is not largely used. Mr. William 
Cantelow, of Vaca Valley, a fruit grower of long experience, 
reported at a recent meeting of the State Horticultural Society, 
that he had used the same method budding that is common with 
fruit trees, as described on pages 105 and 106. He finds it de- 
sirable to insert the bud in the spring as soon as the bark will 
slip well on the stock, and before the run of the sap is too strong. 
Budding in mid-summer, as with fruit trees, has not succeded 
with him. He puts away cuttings in a cool place so their growth 
will be retarded, and then seizes upon just the right condition 
of the stock, inserts the bud under the "bark of a cane of the 
previous season's growth, ties it around with a string, and finds 



368 



Grafting Old Vines. 





that the bud starts readily without further treatment. When its 

growth shows its abiUty to 
take the sap, the top of the 
stock is removed. 

Another method of 
budding the vine is by in- 
laying a piece of wood with 
the bud, as shown in the 
engraving. The use of a 
narrow waxed band would 
probably be desirable with 
this style of budding. It 
takes considerable ingenuity 
to make a good fit of bud 
and stock for inlaying, and 
it is but little done. It 
offers a way, however, to 
rapidly multiply wood of 
some desirable variety,by se- 
iNLAYiNG A BuD IN A ViNE Cane. curlug a canc from each bud. 

Grafting the Vine. — Grafting in old vine roots is a 
simple operation, and is performed in various ways. The princi- 
ples involved in vine grafting are similar to those affecting tree 
grafting, as described in Chapter IX. The processes employed 
are also similar, but the graft requires less binding and covering, 
because it is usually rnade beneath the surface of the ground, 
and is, therefore, less subject to accident, exposure, and drying 
out. 

Grafting in the Old Stump. — This is resorted to when 
the character of the vineyard is to be changed, as in changing 
vines of the old mission variety to some improved wine variety, 
and more recently in changing wine varieties into raisin sorts. 
Out of the many ways for working into old stumps, two are 
given below, as those most commonly employed in this State.* 
The first is called " lateral cleft grafting," and introduces the 
scion by a side cut into the stock without splitting across. The 
earth is removed from the old vine down to its first lateral roots, 
and the top is sawed off cleanly a few inches above the first 
laterals. A cut is then made into the side of the stump with a 
knife and mallet, as is shown in the figure. The scion is then 
cut long enough so that one bud will remain above ground when 
the surface is leveled again, the bottom of the scion being given 



* The engravings used in this connection are from Mr. J. H. Wheeler's translation of the 
French Treatise on Grafting, by Aime Champin, published by the Viticultural Commission, in 1883. 



The Lateral Cleft Graft. 



369 




Making the Side Cut into 
THE Vine Root. 



an oblique wedcre-shape, so as to fit 
the crevice in the stock. Some care 
is needed in shaping the wedge of 
the SL.ion. A fit like that shown in 
A in the sketch will not succeed, 
while one in which the surfaces are 
in contact, as in B, will give good 
results. 

The manner of inserting the 
scion is shown by an engraving 
on the following page, which also 
pictures a wedge which is used to 
force the cleft open a little. If the 
cut is well made and the end of the 
scion so adjusted that the stock will 
pinch it when it is pushed into place 
nothing more will be needed except 
to smear over the cut surface of the 
stump and the joint of the scion and 
stock with clay or with a mixture of 

two parts clay and one part fresh cow manure. If the scion is 

held firmly and sealed in with this mixture, it usually needs no 

tying, and the hole can be carefully filled with 

loose earth, with a strong stake to mark the 

place of the graft, and to which the new growth 

can be securely tied afterwards. Another com- 
mon method is, to split the stump across its 

center and insert one or two grafts, as shown in 

the figure. It two are used and both grow, the 

weakly one is afterward suppressed. In this 

cross cleft graft some grafters, rely upon the 

stock to hold the scion without tying, and daub 

it over with the clay mixture, care being taken 

to fill and cover the split in the stock to exclude 

water. Others put a ligature around the split 

stump, as shown in the engraving. Strips of 

cotton cloth answer well for this purpose. Ty- 
ing offers better security from knocking out the 

graft with the cultivator. 

In grafting into very tough old stumps, 

some growers leave a slim wedge of wood in the cleft with the 

scion to prevent the stock from closing too forcibly upon the 

scion. 

Side Grafting. — Side grafting the vine is commended by 
some growers. It consists in inserting a graft by a cut into the 
24 




Adjustment of 
Scion to Stock. 



370 



Connnon Cleft Graft. 



side of the stock, the method being essentially the same as that 
employed with fruit trees, as described on page 1 1 1, except that 
in side oraftino- the vine the top is not amputated, but is allowed 
to bear Its crop and is then removed the following winter. The 




Common Cleft and Lateral Grafts. Scion in Position. 
next summer the scion will bear a crop, and the vine is worked 
over without cessation in its bearing. 

Herbaceous Grafting. — This term is applied to a graft 
in which the scion of the current season's growth is set by a 
cleft graft into canes also of the current season's growth, while 
both scion and cane are elastic, but not too soft. The method 
has not been usually successful in this State, apparently because 
of the dryness of the summer air. 

CARE OF scions. 

For taking and caring for scions, John H. Wheeler, ex-chief 
viticultural officer, who has given much attention to grafting old 
vine stumps, advises as follows: — • 

Too much emphasis cannot be given to the vahie of properly caring for the wood 
to be used for scions, which should be cuttings, or, better still, whole canes as pruned 
from the vine. These should be imbedded, when taken from the vine, on the north 
side of some building, in trenches covered well with earth. For this purpose they 
may be tied into bundles or left loose. Do not be afraid that they will rot. A little 
mold on them would prove no injury. From these, the operator may, in the spring, 
cut small or large scions, long or short, wasting no buds. 

Grafting is done in February, March, and April in different 
parts of the State, March being the month usually chosen for 



Grafting on Resistant Stocks. 



371 



the work. If a spring graft fails, the stump may be regrafted 
in August or in the following spring. In regrafting, the stump 
is cut off again below the previous cleft. Mr. C. J. Wetmore 
favors August grafting, and thinks it could, with advantage, be 
more widely resorted to. The time for the work is when the sap 
has ceased flowing, usually from the first to the tenth of August. 
GRAFTING ON RESISTANT ROOTS. 
Grafting on resistant roots differs from working in old 
stumps in the size of the wood to be operated on, and in the 
fact that the graft must be set higher up because it is not desira- 
ble to have the scion strike roots of its own, for the obvious 
reason that depending on such roots would make the vine no 
longer resistant. The advantage of covering the graft with 
earth is, however, still to be enjoyed, for the earth can be raised 
in a little mound around the graft, to be removed when the graft 
has taken well. For this reason grafting on resistant roots is 
usually done at or near the»surface of the ground. 

The common cleftgraft 
is used when the stock 
is large enough to give 
a split strong enough to 
hold in the scion. In 
grafting smaller stocks 
the whip graft is used, as 
shovvn in the accompany- 
ing engraving, which rep- 
resents the stock, the 
scion, and the two after 
insertion and tying, with 
the dotted line to show 
the mound of earth made 
to keep the graft from 
drying out. 

This graft is variously 
treated. It is covered with clay by some, by others with graft- 
ing wax; but the common experience is, that grafting wax 
makes too tight a joint, and holds in surplus sap, which begets 
disease. The use of a wax band specially adapted to ruling 
conditions has proved very successful in the hands of a promi- 
nent vine grower, who describes his practice as follows:* 

Take old soft muslin— the coarser the better — cut it across the grain into narrow 
slips half an inch wide and eight inches in length; arranee the slips in bundles of one 
hundred each, for convenience in applying the wax; melt in a shallow iron pan, a 
pound each of beef tallow and beeswax, add four ounces of resin; heat the whole to 




Whip Graft with Earth Mound. 



Eli F. Sheppard, of Madrone Vineyards. 



372 Laying out Vineyard. 

the boiling point. Then take the bundle of prepared muslin slips and dip one-half 
its length only, into the boiling liquid, take it out quickly and hang up in a cool place 
till the wax hardens, and the bandages are ready for use. The bandage so j^repared 
is applied as follows: After carefully inserting the graft in the cleft, begin a little be- 
low the joint and wrap the dry or ?/«waxed end of the bandage closely and firmly 
three or four times spirally upward around the cleft, completely covering it; when 
the waxed portion of the bandage is reached, draw it tightly around, going spirally 
downward and over the now covered cleft joint until the whole is completely inclosed, 
air-tight, with the waxed cloth. Press the bandaged joint gently between the thumb 
and forefinger to close up any exposed points, and carefully cover up the graft to the 
terminal bud with dry, fresh earth. 

Though several species of American wild vines have been 
found practically resistant in this State, the California species, 
Vitis Califoj^nica, and the riverside grape, of the Eastern States, 
Vitis Riparia, have been most widely employed as resistant 
stocks. Of late the tendency is toward the more common use 
of ^j^zVrt/w varieties, notably the Lenoir and Herbemont. Con- 
cerning the selection and treatment of these stocks and their 
adaptation to different soils and to the support of different vini- 
fera varieties, there is much information available in the special 
publications commended in the opening of this chapter.* 

LAYING OUT THE VINEYARD. 

Vines are planted in rectangles, generally in squares, but 
sometimes at a less distance in the rows than the rows are from 
each other. The stakes which are to represent the future vines 
are in either case placed by the same methods of measuring or 
marking off. All the methods described for clearing and pre- 
paring lands, in Chapter VI I, and for laying off ground in squares, 
described in Chapter X, are applicable to vineyard ground. The 
measuring wire described on page 124 is the means usually em- 
ployed for laying off. A special contrivance which has been used 
to some extent on level ground in Los Angeles County is thus 
described: -(- 

Straight rows, equi-distant on level land, are essential to good cultivation. To 
have straght rows on hilly or uneven land will require more care and a little skillful 
engineering. Perhaps it would pay the proprietor who plants a vineyard on hilly 
land to avail himself of the services of a competent surveyor to set flags at the ends 
of his rows, and others at intervals between the ends along the rows, for the guidance 
of the marker. Too great care cannot be given to have all the rows on both hilly and 
level land perfectly straight, for the beauty of the vineyard and the ease of cultivation. 

The marker most in use is made in the form of a sled, sixteen, fourteen, or twelve 
feet long, with three runners so placed as to mark rows eight, seven, or six feet wide. 
These runners should be made about three feet long, of some hard wood (Oregon 
pine will do), two inches thick and firmly nailed to two planks placed upon them of 
the lengths first above named. Upon these should be bolted two strong pieces of 
joist in the form of wagon hounds projecting in front far enough to receive a stout 



« See page 359. 

t B. H. Twomblj', Tustin, in Los Angeles Herald, March, 1887. 



Planting in Rozvs. 373 

pole like a wagon-tongue, well braced and fastened with an iron rod. Care must be 
taken that the motion of the machine is steady and true in all its parts. With a well- 
made marker, a gentle team, and a careful driver, excellent work may be done. 
Some of the best vineyards in this vicinity, one of fifteen, one of ten, and one of 
three acres, were marked with a wheelbarrow. Of course the rows should be laid 
off both ways. 

Distance of Planting. — There is as much difference of 
opinion and practice in fixing the distance between vines as be- 
tween orchard trees, but usually more room is jriven than for- 
merly. Planted in squares, the distance varies from seven to ten 
feet, with eight feet as most prevalent, taking the State as a 
whole. Distances for the cliainire system will be given later. 

Planting in parallelograms is also adopted to some extent, 
for the sake of getting space to spread trays for raisin drying 
and for other reasons. Such plantations are made with the 
vines seven by ten or eight by ten feet, etc. There is great 
variation in the distances. 

When the distance between the vines is very much less 
than the distance between the rows, it is termed "planting in 
rows." Charles Krug, of Napa County, Viticultural Com- 
missioner, and a prominent vineyardist, has recently reached 
results which incline him strongly to advise the planting in rows. 
He first adopted the practice of planting three and one-half 
feet apart in the rows, and the rows fourteen feet apart, because 
of the easier plowing of such a vineyard on the hillside, and his 
experience disclosed so many advantages that he has since 
adopted the method on valley lands. Among these advantages 
he mentions: Plowing can be done with a double team and 
larger plows; the brush can be gathered and burned between 
the rows instead of carrying it to the avenues; sulphur and 
materials for spraying can be brought in by team to any part of 
the vineyard; empty boxes can be distributed and filled ones 
gathered up without carrying, etc. Planting in rows recom- 
mends itself not only far planting new vineyards, but also for 
changing old vineyards from seven by seven feet to three and 
one-half by fourteen feet, or from eight by eight feet to four by 
sixteen feet, giving the proprietor an opportunity to change from 
a vinifera-x oot vineyard to a resistant-root vineyard. This can 
be accomplished by planting resistant roots in the alternate rows 
to be preserved, right between the two old vines. 

Number of Vines to the Acre. — Whether the vines be 
set in squares, parallelograms, or in rows, it is very easy to cal- 
culate the number of vines which an acre will accommodate. 
Multiply the distance in feet between the rows by the distance 
the plants are apart in the rows, and the product will be the 



374 Planting Cuttings and Rooted Vines. 

number of square feet for each plant; which, divided into the 
number of feet in an acre (forty-three thousand five hundred 
and sixty), will give the number of plants to the acre. 

Avenues in the Vineyard. — For convenience of ac- 
cess with team and wagon, there should always be avenues 
through the vineyard. They are usually arranged so as to cut 
up the vineyard into blocks about twice as long as broad, if the 
vineyard be on level land. Of course, on hilly lands the avenues 
should be located for ease of hauling. The avenue is made by 
leaving out a row of vines, and, therefore, the exact size of the 
block will depend upon the distance between the rows. Some 
advise having not more than forty vines between the avenues. 
PLANTING CUTTINGS AND ROOTED VINES. 

Various means are used for planting cuttings. An essential 
condition to successful growth is to have the lower part of the 
cutting well embedded in the soil, as it will not root unless in 
close contact with the earth. To lack of care in this regard 
most failures are due, and for lack of surety that such contact is 
made the various contrivances for speedy planting, such as 
the planting bar, are widely condemned ; an excavation of the 
hole and refilling with fine surface earth, just as is advised in 
Chapter XI, for planting orchard trees, is commended as the safest 
practice. Much, however, depends upon the soil. In loose, free 
soil, such a use of bar or "sheep's-foot " as will be presently de- 
scribed, may be satisfactory, while it would be impracticable on 
firmer soils, both because of the difficulty of insertion and be 
cause the packed condition caused by the forcing in would not 
favor root extension ; and not desirable on shallow soils because 
the contact of the better surface soil with the bottom of the 
cutting will stimulate the growth of the cutting, and is, therefore, 
very desirable. The planting by direct thrust is obviously im- 
practicable when horizontal planting of a long cutting is desired, 
as will be described later. 

The post-hole auger and a device for taking out soil as a 
" trier " takes out a sample of cheese or butter, have also been 
used to some extent, but not widely, in making holes for cuttings 

Planting Bar and Sheep's-foot. — The following meth- 
ods described by Dr. Gustav Eisen* as prevailing in the raisin 
districts of the San Joaquin Valley, on sandy, loamy soils, will 
well illustrate similar methods wherever followed: — 

The planting bar consists of a bar of hard iron, sharpened at the lower end and 
furnished with a cross-handle at the other. The length of the bar is about three and 



''San Francisco Exaiuitier, Oct. 5, i8 



Horisontal Planting of Long Cuttings. 375 

a half feet, width about two and a half inches, and thickness a third to half an inch. 
If less than this the bar will bend. The planting is done by pushing the bar perpen- 
dicularly in the ground. After withdrawing it, insert the cutting and push it down 
to the bottom. Fill up the hole by again inserting the bar in the ground close by and 
pressing the flat side against the hole. 

The sheep's-foot consists of a round rod with cross-handle at the upper end. The 
lower end of the rod is slightly flattened, bent and forked. The planting is done by 
fitting the forked end over the butt-end bud of the cutting, and immediately pushing 
cutting and rod together to the desired depth in the soil. A slight twist is now given 
to the sheep's-fo,>t. This loosens it from the cutting and allows it to be withdrawn. 
A tamp with the foot fills the hole. Great care must be taken in withdrawing the 
sheep's-foot, lest in doing so the cutting should be drawn out also, and this will leave 
a fatal air chamber at the lower end. The slight twist given the rod before with- 
drawing loosens it and leaves the cutting undisturbed. 

For planting in dry situations some careful planters run 
water and fine earth into the hole made by the bar after insert- 
ing the cutting, others run in fine sand dry and then pour on 
water. In using water in this way one must take care that he 
does not use adobe earth, for a succeeding dry spell may bake it, 
and the cutting will be worse off than if not puddled. 

It has been found that a handful of bone meal mixed with the 
earth at the bottom of the hole is conducive to growth of cut- 
ting or rooted vine. 

Planting Long Cuttings. — Where the long cutting 
planted more or less horizontally is adopted, the method of the 
late G. G. Briggs, one of the largest grape planters of the interior 
valleys, may be followed. This is his description of his prac- 
tice:* 

I make my cuttings of wood of the previous season's growth, about three feet 
long. I lay out vineyard with a plow, crossing furrows at right angles at the distance 
desired for the vines. At the intersection of the furrows, dig holes twenty inches 
deep and twenty inches long, and the width of a shovel. The holes should be dug 
all on the same si le of the furrows, or in a corresponding angle of the intersecting 
furrows. The butt of the cutting is placed from the intersection, bringing the top at 
the exact intersection, with two buds above the surface. The end of the hole at the 
intersecting part must be perpendicular, so as to give the top of the vine a perpendic- 
ular position from the elbow of the vine at the bottom of the hole. To make this 
elbow when the vine is placed, slip the foot on the cutting and cover with soil and 
tramp down. I have found this mode of planting the most successful. It gives a 
larger amount of roots than perpendicular planting, and the roots are low enough 
below the surface to be out of the reach of ordinary drought, and the same time none 
are so deep as to be cold and slow of action in circulation In covering, be careful 
to place the soil close about the perpendicular part of the cane, and up full with the 
general surface, but back from this part the hole may be left in the form of a sink, to 
catch and hold moisture during the first rainy season. 

Planting Rooted Vines. — Planting rooted vines is gov- 
erned by the same rules coinmended for planting trees in 
Chapter I, so far as preparation of holes, care in placing and firm- 
ing the soil around the roots, etc., is concerned. In handling 
rooted vines there must be greater care in packing and transpor- 
tation to prevent the roots from drying, and in carrying to the 

* Record-Union, July, 1882. 



lyG Tiuie to Plant Vines. 

field it is generally advised that the planfs be kept in a pail or 
other receptacle with water. The vine roots are very small and 
tender, and success will largely depend upon good care of them. 
At planting all dead roots should be trimmed away and the top 
reduced to a single cane cut back to two eyes. 

When to Plant. — The exact time to plant cannot be 
stated, for the condition of the soil and the local season-points 
are the best guides. Planting can be done much later as a rule 
in the coast regions than in the interior, because the soil is usually 
later in getting into good condition of mellowness and warmth, 
and the late rains are usually heavier. It is certainly not ad- 
visable to place cuttings in cold, wet soil, and dry soil will quickly 
destroy their vitality. The planter must use good judgment in 
choosing his time for planting — aided in forming it by the best 
local experience he can get. 

Cultivation of Vineyard. — General suggestions con- 
cerning the cultivation of the vineyard have already been given 
in Chapter XIII, preceding. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

PRUNING AND CARE OF THE VINE.* 

Most of the varieties of vinifera grown in California at pres- 
ent thrive under theshort pruning system. There are exceptions, 
however, which will be noted later. The prevalence of the short 
pruning system frees our growers from the expense and incon- 
venience of trellises. Though in the early years of the vines 
stakes are used, our older vines stand by themselves and are as 
independent of supports as are our fruit trees. The vines are, in 
fact, shaped upon something the same model as our fruit trees, 
the so-called 'goblet form" of the French being our prototype. 






Fig. I. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 

Various Growths of Vines Before P'irst Pruning. 

An effort will be made to describe briefly how this form is at- 
tained.-j- 

FlRST Year. — During its first year in the vineyard the cut- 
ting is allowed to make all the growth possible without interfer- 
ence. After the fall of the leaves the following winter, the vines 
will be found to have made varying amounts of growth, accord- 
ing to individual vigor, as shown by the accompanying engraving, 
ranging from Fig. i, which is a good growth, down to Fig. 4, which 
is a feeble growth. In these figures rt' represents the wood of 
the cutting which was planted with two buds above ground ; a 
is the lowest shoot of each, which in the first three instances, 



*A general discussion of the pruning of the vine with due consideration of all the ends to be at- 
tained by different pruning policies is beyond the unavoidable limitations of this treatise. The liter- 
ature of the subject is large and anyone who aims to make a specialty of the grape will of course seek 
other sources of information. It is the aim of the writer merely to give a few suggestions which will 
aid the beginner or one who designs to grow a small area of vines in connection with other fruits. 

t The figures used herewith are from a translation of Cazenave's treatise, published by the Viti- 
cultural Commission. 

(377) 



378 



Prunhig for Goblet Form. 



Figs. I, 2 and 3, should be cut back to two buds, and all the 
other shoots removed entirely — leaving, however, the old stem d 
in each case, as it is useful to tie the new shoots to during the 
following summer. In the case of the feeble growth, Fig. 4, the 
shoot b is to be removed and a allowed to stand as it is, in the 
prospect of its picking up strength and making growth enough 
to be cut back to two buds at the end of the next season. 

Thus it appears that usually all the vines cannot be brought 
to uniform condition at once, but some will require a year or two 
more than others in the shaping process, because of the inherent 
weakness of the individual, or because some of the vines may be 
set in a spot of the vineyard less favorable to growth. 






Fig. 



Fig. 6. Fig. 7. 

Vine at Second and Third Pruning. 



Second Year. — During the second summer, vigorous vines 
will send out shoots five feet or more in length, according to the 
inherent strength of the variety or the favoring situation, and of 
these the most upright and vigorous should be selected to serve 
as the foundation of the future trunk. It should be cut back so 
that the second bud from the top of the part that is left shall 
mark the height desired for the first fork of the coming goblet- 
shaped head. This cane should be tied to a stake and all other 
buds save the three at the top rubbed off. All other canes 
should be closely cut away. The engraving Fig. 5 show s at a 
the cane to be chosen to form the future vine, while /; and c are 
to be cut away cleanly. 

At this point practice varies in this State. Instead of rub- 
bing off the lower buds as advised, some growers allow laterals 
to grow below the future head and the laterals bear fruit and are 
afterwards cut away. The result is that a trunk is afterwards 
formed with scars from the removed laterals instead of smooth 



HigJi and Low Heading. 379 

trunks, which are secured when the lower buds are rubbed away. 
The grower has to decide whether this fruit is worth more to him 
than the healthier and more vigorous vine which will probably 
be secured by dispensing with this early fruit. 

Another point of difference enters here, and that is the choice 
of height at which the head of the vine shall be formed. By the 
head is meant the point at which the lowest branches emerge from 
he main stem, and not the tops of the highest spurs, which some 
all the head of the vine. The question is then at what point 
shall the oldest or lowest forks be formed. Experience favors low- 
heading on hillsides and on broad valley vineyards. The grapes 
are brought near to the warm, dry soil, which, with raisin and 
table grapes at least, is desirable because the radiation of heat 
from the sun-heated soil during the night gives a more uniform 
heat during the twenty-four hours, and by bearing its fruit low 
and supporting part of it upon the ground the vine is less af- 
fected by wind. But this very low heading is not desirable on 
moist soils because of mildew, nor is it safe on low ground where 
frosts are likely to form. For this reason in broken country 
where vineyards run from the hillsides down into small valleys, 
it is usual to head the vines on the low ground higher than on 
the hillsides. 

Third Year. — During the third summer canes will grow 
from the vines something as shown in Fig. 6, and considerable 
fruit will be borne. Sometimes all these canes are allowed to 
grow through the season, but it is better practice to rub off othe 






Fig. 8. Fig. o. Fig. io. 

The Vine at Fourth and Subsequent Prunings. 

shoots when two or three vigorous ones can be selected to form 
the main branchings of the trunk. It is also customary to pinch 
off the main shoots after they have grown out a foot or so. 
This pinching results in the growth of leafy laterals which shade 
the fruit and add to the stockiness of the main canes. At the 
winter pruning which follows these two or three main canes are 
cut back to two or three buds, the greater number of buds being 



38o 



Common Stump Pruning. 



left on the more vigorous vines. All other shoots are cut away 
cleanly. This operation fixes the first fork of the vine head, as 
shown in Fig. 7. 

Fourth Year. — The fourth summer most vines will put 
forth a number of canes and bear a good crop of fruit, 
though some varieties are later in bearing. The same treat- 
ment is given the vine as during the preceding summer, and 
at the following winter pruning each branch is allowed to retain 
two spurs of two or three buds each, according to the strength of 
the vines, as aforesaid. Thus the vine which was left as in Fig. 7 
at the third pruning becomes the form shown in Fig. 8 at the 
fourth winter pruning. 

Subsequent Pruning. — After the fourth year the pruning 
proceeds upon the same plan, the number of branches being in- 
creased as the vigor of the vine seems to warrant, until the trunk 




A .Stump- PR UN ED Vine. 

shows the goblet form as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. From year 
to year the number of buds left on the spurs depends upon the 
ability of the vine to produce the fruit and make a healthy 
growth. 

Stump Pruning. — Short or spur pruning is also followed 
without systematic effort to build up a symmetrical trunk, branch- 
ing in goblet shape, as has been described. In such practice the 
vine is usually headed as soon as a strong cane is thrown out 



Lo)is: Pruned Vines. 



381 



about as high as the top of the trunk is intended to be, and year 
after year shoots are selected from those emerging near the top 
of the stump. Irregularly branching heads are thus formed, 
continually crowding upward, and are kept within bounds much 
less easily than low-heading branches. The engraving shows a 
stump-pruned vine with some canes cut short and some long, ac- 
cording to a system which will be mentioned presently. 

In stump pruning there is a difference of practice as to low 
heading according to locality. In the interior regions the vine 
is now headed almost at the surface of the ground; in the coast 
regions there is usually a stump of one to two feet or more. As 
with trees so with vines, the practice is to prune to make lower 
heads than during the early years of California fruitgrowing. 

Long Pruning. — Some 
varieties grown for market and 
for raisin making do not thrive 
if pruned by the short spur 
system. Notable among these 
are the Sultana, the Emperor, 
and the Sabalskanski vines. 
There are also a number of 
wine varieties which must be 
pruned long. Long pruning 
admits of degrees, but it usu- 
ally signifies using a five or six 
instead of a four-foot stake and 
leaving the selected canes from 
eighteen inches to three feet or 
longer instead of cutting back 
to two or three buds as in short pruning. These long canes are 
securely tied to the long stakes. 

With varieties needing long pruning the first two or three 
buds next the old wood do not bear fruit, hence the need of 
leaving buds farther removed from the old wood to secure it. 
This habit of the vine invites the practice of growing a long cane 
for fruit and at the same time providing for wood growth for the 
following year's fruiting by cutting another cane from the same 
spur down to two or three buds. By this practice the wood which 
has borne the fruit is cutback to a bud each winter and the cane 
which has grown only wood is pruned long for the fruit of the 
following summer. A modification of the practice is to prune the 
canes from some of the spurs long, and from other spurs short, 
thus making the spurs alternate from wood bearing to fruit bearing 
from year to year. Sometimes instead of using a long stake the 
long cane is brought over the top of the vine and lashed to the 




An Instance of Long Pruning. 



382 



Vmes on Trellises. 



trunk on the other side; or two or more canes are thus brought over 
from side to side and tied securely at their crossing. The en- 
graving shows one style of long pruning, which illustrates the 
cutting to long and short canes, and will sufficiently indicate the 
system. The number of long canes to be left to the vine depends 
on its vigor, and this can only be learned by experience. 

The Eastern grape varieties do not succeed with short spur 
pruning, and the few vines of these varieties found in our vine- 
yards are generally grown on long stakes. The use of the trellis 




Long Pruning and the Use of a Trellis. 

is rare, for it is expensive and unhandy in cultivation. Still 
there are a few grapes on trellises, chiefly in gardens, though the 
use of the trellis for certain varieties, which seem to thrive better 
when lifted from the ground, is extending, especially in the re- 
gion near the coast. The engraving shows long pruning with 
renewal short canes trained upon a trellis. 

The Chaintre System. — This is another method of long 
pruning, which is now being thoroughly tested in the Livermore 
Valley. It is of French origin, the term en chaintre meaning, 
"trailing chains." It consists in growing long canes, which, when 
fruiting, are supported upon short, forked stakes, so that the 
clusters hang within a few inches of the ground, as shown in the 
engraving, which represents a branch of a chaintre-trained vine 
in fruit. Full descriptions of the method of procedure in bring- 
ing a vine from time of planting to the development of the 
chaintre form, also a report of several years' experience in this 
method of training, can be found in the publications of the Viti- 
ultural Commission.* 

It may be stated, however, that vines en chaintre are set 
bout six feet apart in the rows, and the rows twelve to eighteen 
feet apart, the less distance on the lighter soil. The vines are 



*Appendi.\ i to report of State Viticultural officer for 1882-83, and report on the chaintre system 
in California by Clarence J. Wetmore, in report Viticultural Convention of 1S88, page 72. 



The Chaintre System. 383 

spread out over the wide spaces between rows during the summer, 
but, after being properly pruned, are turned back to admit of 
cultivation of the ground. Mr. Wetmore finds the chaintre sys- 
tem better than trellises, because the land can be plowed both 
ways, and cheaper, as well as some other respects better than 
other systems of long pruning. His essay on the subject de- 
scribes some local improvements in the system which have been 
introduced to better suit California conditions. 

Materials Used in Training Vines. — The chief item 
of cost in vine training is the stakes. The best stakes are of 
California redwood, which is exceedingly durable. The cost of 
four-foot stakes for short pruning is about $12 per thousand and 
for five and six-foot stakes for long pruning about $15 to $18 




The Chaintre System of Long Pruning. 

per thousand, free on board cars in the redwood regions in So- 
noma and Santa Cruz Counties. 

Vines are tied with "grape twine;" old cable (bought at the 
junk shops in San Francisco), with wire, with the tough leaves 
of the New Zealand flax, and with withes of ozier willow. 
Both of the last-named materials are now grown for home use by 
many vineyardists. Plants of New Zealand flax {Phonnium 
tenax) have been for several years furnished free to applicants at 
the State University at Berkeley. Professor Husmann strongly 
commends No. 16 annealed galvanized wire for making the 
upper ties of young vine stumps to stakes, and uses the other 
materials for the lower ties and for fastening up growing canes. 

For the chaintre system Mr. Wetmore uses at first light red- 
wood stakes, which cost from $6.00 to $10 per thousand, and these 
same stakes are afterwards used as supports under the trailing 
vines in connection with forked stakes made by taking two 
pieces of redwood (one-half inch by three-fourths inch, eighteen 



384 Snvuner Pruning and Stickering. 

to twenty inches long) and wiring them together about four 
inches from the top. They are spread apart when put under the 
vine. The cost of the small forked stakes is about $3.00 to the 
acre per year, as the number required increases until the vines 
attain full growth. 

Grape-vines should be tied tightly to the stake. By 
"tightly" is meant tight enough to prevent achafing motion, with- 
out compressing the cane. The object of tying up vines is to pre- 
vent their being blown about by the wind and the breaking of the 
canes. Some, however, tie loosely, and are careful to have the 
vine on the leeward side of the stake. Split stakes should have 
the corners rounded to prevent chafing of canes. 

SUMMER PRUNING AND SUCKERING. 

Summer pruning or topping of vines is usually practiced. 
Some follow the pinching process, by which the terminal of the 
growing cane is nipped off with the thumb and finger when it 
has grown out about two feet. Others wait longer and then 
slash off the ends of the canes with a sickle. The tendency is to 
leave summer pruning until too late and to slash off wood indis- 
criminately, to the injury of the vine. Summer pruning, if done 
early enough, and this would be while the growth is still soft at 
the point of removal, will induce the growth of laterals and will 
shade and improve the fruit, and at the same time thicken the 
growth of the main cane. Slashing of canes too late in the sea- 
son deprives the fruit of the service of enough leaf surface for 
the elaboration of the sap, often seriously checks the growth of 
the vine, and in hot regions induces sun-burn. The first summer 
pruning should be done as soon after the bloom as it would be 
considered safe, without disturbing the blossoms by the jarring 
of the canes. The second could take place whenever the canes 
or laterals extend beyond the length necessary to shade the 
grapes. 

Suckering is an important process and usually has to be at- 
tended to at least twice in the season. It consists in removing 
all shoots from old wood which are not provided for at the pre- 
vious winter pruning. The growth of these suckers takes sap 
which should go to the other canes. All such shoots should be 
rubbed or pulled off while they are still soft; if a sucker puts out 
at a point where it would be desirable to have a spur to balance 
the head of the vine, it should of course be allowed to grow, to 
be cut back to two buds the following winter. By such selection 
of suckers new spurs are secured to replace old and failing ones. 
GENERAL NOTES ON PRUNING. 

Longer or shorter pruning produces effects not only upon 
the amount and early ripening of the fruit of certain varieties 



S^iggestions on Pruning. 385 

but upon quality as shown in the wine. Such effects have to be 
discerned by local observation. 

It is a very difficult matter to lay down any rule for pruning 
a vineyard, so much depends on the age of the vines, the differ- 
ent varieties, and the quality of the soil. A basis on which to 
build a theory on the subject might be found in and through an 
understanding of the quantity of grapes that may be expected 
from a vine, as the secret of pruning is to keep a just medium 
between the production of grapes to the injury of the vine and 
its wood and an overproduction of wood to the detriment of the 
crop. In older vines a proportion should be maintained between 
the vigor of the vines and the crop desired; each bud may be 
considered good for two bunches of grapes the ordinary size, and 
upon this estimate may be obtained. It must be borne in mind 
that the result of overloading the vine is detrimental to its vigor 
and health, while the reverse will not injure it, but will lessen the 
profits for that season, often giving greatly increased returns in 
after years.* 

Close attention should be given to the growth of the wood 
and fruit of the preceding year. If the canes are very large and 
the bunches of grapes poor and there are many suckers, it indi- 
cates that more eyes are necessary. On the contrary, if the canes 
are small and the bunches of grapes numerous and straggling, 
and the ripening not even, it indicates that the number of eyes left 
should be less. 

Pruning should also be regulated to produce a good second 
crop of grapes or to prevent the formation of a second crop. 
The second crop is often desirable in raisin and table varieties, 
but undesirable to wine varieties. 

Attention should be paid to the tools used in pruning. Let 
the blades be kept sharp and thin; large shears are very apt to 
bruise the wood more than small ones. 

Pruning is done after the fall of the leaves and before the 
swelling of the buds, usually in January and February. Early 
pruning has a tendency to make the vines start growth early, 
consequently in frosty situations pruning is often deferred till 
late in the winter. In such situations it is advised to leave more 
buds at pruning, so that if the frost kills the first shoots there are 
buds below to make later growth. 

DISEASES OF THE VIXE. 

One of the most prevalent diseases of the vine in California 



*L. D. Combe, San Jose. 
25 



386 



Treatment for Mildeiv. 



is caused by oidinni or erysiphe tnckeri, a fungus which affects 
leaves, canes, and berries, and is locally known as "mildew."* 
The disease is recognized by grayish white coloring of the af- 
fected leaves, which, as thedisease progresses, shrivel and dry up; 
the young cane also blackens and dries and the berries show 
whitish patches, which become darker colored and the berries 
crack open. The usual remedy for the trouble is finely ground 
or sublimed sulphur applied several times during the season. 
The application is made with a "dredge" or a bellows. The 
dredge is a tin cylinder with a handle at one end like that of a 

"sugar scoop" and the opposite end 
perforated finely. Another form re- 
sembles the spout of a watering-pot, 
the sulphur entering through the 
handle, and fine gauze covering the 
face instead of perforated metal. By 
a proper movement of the arm the 
sulphur in the cylinder is thrown 
against the perforated end, and 
enough finds egress from the small 
holes to shower the vine. The 
dredge is best fitted for use on small 
vines or for use early in the season, 
when the growth is just starting 
from the stump. When larger 
spread of sulphur is desired the 
bellows may be used. There is 
much difference of opinion and 
practice as to times of sulphur- 
ing. It may be said, however, in a 
general way that the remedy should 
be a little in advance of the disease, 
and in regions where the mildew 
appears regularly, sulphur is applied 
about as soon as growth starts in the 
vine. A second application about at blooming-time, and a 
third, when the berries are the size of peas. Where mildew 
is not of regular occurrence it is usual to await the appear- 
ance of the disease before sulphuring, and often such frequent 
application is not necessary. There is much difference in 
locality as to prevalence of mildew, also in the susceptibility of 
different varieties, and it is found that in some regions bringing 




The Sulphur Bellows. 



*It should be noted thit the true mildews (iitildwu of the French) (iinchiula and peronospora) 
are so far seldom seen in this State, and that the "black rot'' {^phoma nvicoln) and "anthracnose" 
{spaceloina ai)ipiliiinj>i)\\s.\e not yet been dete;ted, nor does the climate seem to favor their exist- 
ence, judging from what is known of conditions which favor their spread in other parts of the world. 



The Copper- Lime Remedy. 387 

the vines nearly to the surface of the ground gives escape from 
the disease. In sulphuring always walk with the wind and 
guard the eyes as much as possible. 

Another fungicide which is being successfully used in this 
State both for the. oidiujn, ior Xhe peronospera, and for other possi- 
ble fungoid growths which do yield to the sulphur treatment as 
the oidium does, is known as the "copper-lime" remedy, a pre- 
scription reported to the French Academy by M. Millardet, and 
first published in California by Professor Hilgard.as follows:* 

The treatment consists simply in sprinkling upon the vines by means of a little 
broom, a fluid mixture made thus: Dissolve in twenty-five gallons of water, sixteen 
pounds of copper sulphate (bluestone), also, slake thirty pounds of quicklime with 
seven and a half gallons of water into a milk of lime, which then mix with the blue- 
stone solution; there will thus be produced a light blue mixture, which should be 
frequently stirred during use. Care should be taken not to sprinkle the grapes them- 
selves. About thirteen gallons were used per one thousand vines. After drying, 
the droplets remain firmly fixed to the leaves, and a few, or even one on each leaf, 
appear to be sufificient to produce the effect. A very weak solution of both lime and 
copper is therefore spread over the leaf each time the latter is moistened, but even a 
strong rain cannot wash the active drop entirely away. It remains and protects the 
vine during the season, as the French experiments have shown. 

The copper lime remedy is applied in various ways in this 
State. It is sprinkled on as the French advise, it is rubbed on 
the stump in the winter with a brush or a sponge wired to a 
stick, to kill any resting spores of fungi, and it is applied with a 
spray pump to the vine leaves when in growth, both before and 
after the blooming, but not while in blossom. Mr. Haraszthy 
has found it a cure for dropping of leaves in July, which some- 
times did much harm in his vineyard until he began using this 
wash in 1885. 

A frequent misfortune of the vine, and for which no remedy 
is yet known, is coulure, a term signifying the failure of the fruit 
to set or to remain on the cluster. This occurs in varying de- 
grees from the loss of a few berries to the almost complete 
clearing of fruit from the stem. It is worse with some 
varieties than others. It is worse in some localities than others. 
The trouble arises from various causes. 

There is also, occurring with more or less frequency, a red- 
dening and death of the vine leaves, supposed to be identical 
with the trouble known to the French as "rougeole." The leaves 
show light-colored spots at first, which afterward turn red and 
finally involve the whole leaf or cane, and sometimes the whole 
vine. It usually occurs in midsummer, and is not necessarily fatal 
in its effects. 

An evil occurring on the main stem of the vine, generally 
near the surface of the ground, is an excrescence of woody 



* Pacific Rural Press, xiovember 14, i£ 



388 Black Knot of the l^ine. 

character commonly called " black knot." There has been much 
discussion as to the cause of this abnormal growth, without full 
agreement among observers. Some attribute the knots to inju- 
ries to the stump in cultivation, others to outbursts of sap 
which the short pruning system does not give top growth enough 
to dispose of, and to various other causes. The usual treatment is 
to cut away the knot, pare the wound smooth, and cover with 
paint or shellac solution. This disease should not be confounded 
with the "black knot" of the plum, the cause of which is well 
understood. 

A number of insects infest the vine more or less seriously in 
this State, of which the chief will be mentioned in the chapter 
devoted to thai subject. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

GRAPE VARIETIES IN CALIFORNIA. 

As previously stated, there have been large collections of 
grape varieties brought into California during the last thirty-five 
years. They were sought in all grape countries, and from such 
wide experimental planting a few have survived in popular es- 
teem and are now chiefly grown. Being derived from different 
countries, they came bearing many names. Some of these have 
been preserved, some wholly lost, and replaced with local ap- 
pellations. The result is that our grape nomenclature is full of 
confusion. Some varieties have been identified by the means 
of the standard French grape literature; others aie apparently 
unknown to the compilers of that literature. It is, therefore, 
impossible to-day to determine a number of our most popular 
table and shipping grapes, as well as some of the wine varieties. 
In order to characterize our leading table grapes, descriptions 
will be quoted from the best available local authorities, as 
follows: — 

Early Black "July; syns. Moiieleine, Madeleine Noir, &\.c. — "Leaves rather 
small; light green above and beneath; bunches small and compact; berries small, 
(juite round; skin thick, black, covered with a blue bloom; flavor moderately sweet, 
but not rich nor perfumed. The earliest grape, and chiefly valued for the dessert on 
that account." — Hyatt. 

Early Madeleine; syn. Madeleine Angevine. — "Moderate grower, with long- 
jointed, brown wood; leaf medium, deeply lobed; dark green above, tomentose be- 
low; young points reddish, woolly, slender; bunch medium, compact, shouldered; 
berry medium, oblong, yellowish green, transparent, rather thick skin, sweet and 
juicy. Vine a shy bearer when pest is prevalent." — Husmann. 

Chasselas de FoNTAlNEBLEAu; sya.Sweetiva/er. — "Vine a strong but slender 
grower, which will bear' well with short or long pruning, low or high stakes; wood 
brown, long-jointed, slender; leaf thin, deeply lobed, bright green, ends of shoots 
and young leaves brownish green; bunch medium, compact, shouldered; berry me- 
dium, round, yellow, transparent, of a peculiar crackling firmness, juicy, sweet, but 
without any very high character." — Husmann, 

Chasselas Rose. — Fruit resembling foregoing, except that both bunch and 
berries are usually smaller, and flavor is rather more pronounced. 

Chasselas Victoria. — "Vine vigorous, very short-jointed and brittle, and 
bears well with short pruning; wood grayish yellow, thick and strong; leaf light 
green, deeply lobed and shining; young shoots with numerous laterals; bunch very 
large and heavy, often weighing five pounds, shouldered, very compact; stem brown, 
very thick; berry medium, round, pale lilac purple, with lilac bloom, juicy, vinous, 
refreshing. " — Husmann. 

{389) 



390 Table Grapes Chiefiy Groivn. 

Palomixo; syn. Golden Cliasselai. — "The vine quite largely grown as 'Golden 
Chasselas' is undoubtedly identical with the Listan or Palomino." — Prof. Hilgard. 
" Vine a fair grower; wood close-jointed; leaf medium, oblong, deeply lobed, bright 
green above, grayish green and tomentose below; stem short, young points with red- 
dish tint and woolly; bunch large, conical, rather loose and shouldered; berry round, 
full medium, sometimes flat, pale green with yellowish tinge; thin skin, juicy and 
sweet, resembling Chasselas." — Husniann. 

Black Malvoise; syn. Malvasia, — "Vine a strong grower; wood long-jointed, 
rather slender, light brown; leaf medium size, oval, rather evenly and deeply five- 
lobed; basal sinus moderately open, with parallel sides, upper surface smooth, almost 
glabrous, lower surface lightly tomentose on the veins and veinlets; bunches large, 
rather loose, branching; berries large, oblong, reddish black, with faint bloom; flesh 
juicy, flavor neutral." — Hilgard. Widely grown as an early table grape. 

Mission. — "This variety, grown at the old Missions, has never been determined, 
nor its exact source ascertained. It is by some regarded as a most delicious table 
grape. It can be found in small areas in every county of the State adapted to the 
grape. Vine a strong grower; wood short-jointed, dull dark brown to grayish; leaf 
above medium size, slightly oblong, with large, deeply-cut compound teeth, basal 
sinus widely open, primary sinuses shallow and narrow, secondary sinuses ill-defined, 
smooth on both sides, light green below with light scattered tomentum." — Hilgard. 
" Bunches slightly shouldered, loose, divided into many small, distinct lateral clus- 
ters; berries medium size, round, purple black, heavy bloom; exceedingly sweet, 
juicy, and delicious; seeds rather large; skin thin." — Hyatt. 

White Muscat of Alexandria.* — "Vine a short, rather straggling and 
bushy grower, well adapted to short stool pruning, as it forms rather a bush than a 
vine; wood gray, with darker spots, short-jointed; leaf round, five lobed, bright green 
above, lighter green below, young shoots a bright green. The laterals produce a 
second and even a third crop; bunch long and loose, shouldered; berry oblong, light 
yellow when fully mature, transparent, covered with white bloom, fleshy, with thick 
skin, very sweet and decidedly musky. " — Husmann. The leading table grape of Cal- 
ifornia. Rejected for irregular bearing on some mesa lands in Southern California. 

Muscatel Gordo Blanco.. — "Muscatel Gordo Blanco has a closer bunch "and 
rounder berry than the Muscat. The skin is softer and the pulp is not quite so hard. 
The berries incline to be a little darker in color and not nearly so green when it is 
ripe, and I think not quite as long as the Muscat of Alexandria. If the Muscat 
would set as well as the Muscatel, the difiiculty would be obviated. One very im- 
portant diff"erence is that when you come to dry them, the Muscat of Alexandria loses 
the bloom very rapidly. The bloom comes off when you come to dry and pack them. 
But the Muscatel does not lose its bloom. The Aluscat of Alexandria has to be 
dried a little more than the Muscatel to bring it into a keeping condition under the 
same condition of ripeness." — R. B. Blowers. f 

The Gordo Blanco is of an entirely different shape from the Muscat of Alexan- 
dria. The berries are round and swollen — hence the name in Spanish meaning 
r(7«W Tc/z/Vt', almost globular. The bunches are more heavily set or filled, and the 
stalk is stronger, but the flavor of the berry is not quite so pronounced, though fully 
sufficient to fill the demand for first-class raisins. The Gordo Blanco is to-day the 
favorite grape. Both varieties are found promiscuously in most raisin vineyards, and 
it is sometimes difiicult to decide which belongs to the one and which to the other 
kind, as there appear to be several gradations between the two. Most vineyardists 
in California prefer the Gordo Blanco, and endeavor to propagate it exclusively. The 
advantages claimed for this grape are that it is a better and surer bearer, the berries 
appear larger when dried and cured, aud the percentage of large bunches is greater." 
— Gustav Eisen. 



*There is much doubt about the White Muscats as grown in California. Some claim inability to 
distinguish between certain grapes of the Muscat type which are being grown in this State under 
distinctive names; others pronounce them clearly different varieties. The matter cannot be adjudi- 
cated at present. 

tAt Fresno (jrape Growers' Convention, 1883. 



Table Grapes Chiefly Grozvn. 391 

Larga Bloom; syn. Uva Lari^a. — A variety of Muscat said to be named be- 
cause of the length of its berries, but held by some growers to he indistinguishable 
from Muscatel Gordo Blanco. An excellent raisin grape, but now chiefly grown as 
a table fruit in the Santa Cruz Mountains. 

White Malaga. — "Vine a strong grower; wood reddish brown, short-jointed; 
leaf medium, leathery, smooth, deeply lobed, light shining green above; bunch very 
large, loose, shouldered, long; stem long and flexible; berry very large, oval, yellow- 
ish green, covered with white bloom; thick skin, fleshy." — Husmann. Grown in 
Southern California in situations where the Muscat does not do well; also elsewhere 
as a table grape, and to some extent in San Joaquin Valley for raisins. 

Black Muscat OF Alexandria. — "Bunches large, shouldered; berries large, 
ovaU skin thick, of a reddish color, becoming black at maturity; flesh quite firm, 
with a rich, musky flavor." — Downing. Growing in popularity as a table grape. 

Sultana; syn. Seedless Sultana. — "Vine a strong grower; brown, long-jointed 
wood; leaf thin, bright green above, lighter green below, smooth and shining, deeply 
lobed and sharply serrate; young wood dark green, points greyish brown, tendrils at 
every joint, thin and slender; bunch very large and loose, shouldered; berry small, 
round, golden yellow, covered with light bloom, sweet and juicy, firm and crack- 
ling, without seeds. An abundant bearer with long pruning." — Husmann. 

An undetermined seedless variety resembling the Sultana in some respects, but 
in others superior, is grown in Sutter County, and locally known as Thompson's 
Seedless. In the vineyard of J. P. Onstott, of V'uba City, the vine is exceedingly 
prolific and the fruit very fine. 

Flame Tokay; syns. Flame-colored Tokay, Flaniing Tokay. — " Vine a strong 
grower, large in all its proportions, wood, joints, leaves; wood dark brown, straight, 
with long joints; leaves dark green, with a brownish tinge; lightly lobed; bunch 
very large, sometimes weighing eight to nine pounds, moderately compact, shouldered; 
berry very large, oblong, red, covered with fine lilac bloom; fleshy and crackling, 
firm; ripens late." — Husmann. The leading show grape of the State and desirable 
for shipping; quality low. 

Black Hamrurg. — "Bunches very large, from six to ten inches in length, very 
broad at the shoulders, tapering to a point gradually; berries very large, round, 
slightly inclining to oval; skin rather thick, deep purple, very black at maturity; 
very sugary, juicy and rich." — Hyatt. A very popular market grape. 

Rose OF Peru; syn. Black Prince [?). — "Vine a strong grower, with dark 
brown, short-jointed wood; leaf deep green above, lighter green and tomentose be- 
low; bunch very large, shouldered, rather loose; berry round, large, black, with firm 
and crackling flesh; ripens rather late; a very handsome and productive variety of 
good quality, but not adapted for long shipment." — Husmann. 

Purple Damascus; syn. Black Damascus. — "Vine a medium grower; wood 
light brown, striped with darker brown, short-jointed; leafround, five-lobed, smooth, 
light green above, tomentose beneath; stem reddish, large, long and woody; bunch 
large, loose, shouldered; berry very large, oblong, dark blue, covered with lighter 
bloom, meaty, skin thick, ripens late." — Husmann. 

Black Cornichon. — "Vine a strong, but stocky grower, with thick, close- 
jointed brown wood; leaf large and thick, deeply five-lobed, dark green above, gray- 
ish green and tomentose below; young shoots light green, with tomentose points; 
bunch very large, loose, shouldered, with long stems and drooping; berry large, 
long, dark blue with lighter dots, fleshy thick skin; very late." — Husmann. 

Emperor. — " Vine a strong grower; wood long-jointed, brown; leaf half rough 
and large, deeply lobed; bunch long and loose, shouldered, very large; berry oblong, 
deep rose colored, covered with light bloom; thick skin, firm." — Husmann. An ex- 
cellent shipping grape, largely grown by R. B. Blowers, of Woodland, Yolo County, 
by whom its merits were first announced. Pronounced unsatisfactory because of ir- 
regular setting and non-ripening in localities near the coast in Northern California, 
and generally condemned in Southern California. Seems best adapted to early 
interior situations. 



392 Table Grapes Ckiefiy Grown. 

Black Ferrara. — A large black grape; large bunches; berries cling well to 
the stem, thick-skinned, flavor superior. An excellent local market variety and long- 
distance shipper. 

Black Morocco. — "Vine a straggling, drooping grower, with numerous laterals, 
which generally bear an abundant second crop; leaf thin, deeply lobed and serrated, 
dark green and shining, bunch very large, rather compact, heavily shouldered; berry 
very large, black, fleshy, of rather poor quality." — Husmann. A showy market 
variety, standing shipment well. Often rejected because of prevalence of black 
knot on rich soils. 

Verdel. — [Aspiran Blanc. — Hilgard.) "Vine a strong grower, long joints; 
leaf large, deeply lobed, tomentose; bi.nch short, heavily shouldered; berry oblong, 
yellowish green, covered with fine bloom; ripens late, very productive." — Husmann. 
Largely grown as a late table grape; usually deficient in sweetness. 

OTHER VINIFERA VARIETIES. 

There are many other vinifera varieties which are grown to 
a limited extent either for raisins or for table use. Among these 
are the Canon Hall Muscat, the Muscat Frontignan, White 
Tokay, White Cornichon, Gros Colman, White Champion, Cin- 
saut, Sabalskanski,etc., for table use; the Fiher Zagos, White and 
Black Corinth, for drying. With grapes, as with other market 
fruits, the planter usually confines his attention to a very i&w 
popular kinds. 

EASTERN GRAPES. 

Though many of the improved varieties of the grape species 
indigenous east of the Rocky Mountains, and of the hybrids be- 
tween these species and the vinifera, have been introduced in 
California, their growth for table fruit is almost of insignificant 
proportions, and does not constitute even a respectable fraction 
of one per cent of our grape area. The popular taste decidedly 
prefers the vinifera varieties. There is, however, a variety be- 
lieved to be of local origin, which is worthy of mention, as 
follows: — 

Isabella Regla. — "A remarkable, giant-leaved, and very prolific variety, or 
rather sport of the Isabella, produced by Mr. J. P. Pierce, of Santa Clara. The 
berries, like the leaves, are of extraordinary size, and when ripe the fruit is exceed- 
ingly sweet and strongly aromatic. It is, therefore, acceptable as a showy, perfumed 
table grape, much liked by some, but readily surfeiting those who are accustomed to 
the vinifera grapes. The berries are too soft for shipment to any distance, but all 
things considered, keep fairly." — Hilgard. 

TABLE GRAPES CHIEFLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

The tabular statement on the following page embodies re- 
ports from local growers of the varieties found most profitable 
for market in the counties specified. As with the foregoing ta- 
bles in the chapters on other fruits, the asterisks indicate affirm- 
ative reports, and the absence of the star does not necessarily 
imply that the county is unsuited for the grape, nor that the 
varieties named do not succeed there. 



Table Grapes Chiefly Groivn in California. 



393 



TABLE EMBODYING REPORTS FROM GROWERS OF TABLE GRAPES, NAMING VARI- 
ETIES CONSIDERED MOST SATISFACTORY IN THE COUNTIES INDICATED. 



Counties of Califor- 
nia. 



Del Norte 

Humboldt 

Mendocino 

Lake 

Napa 

oonoma 

Marin 

Contra Costa. . . 

Alameda 

Santa Clara. . . . 

San Mateo 

Santa Cruz 

San Benito 

Monterey 

San Luis Obispo 
Santa Barbara. . 

Ventura 

Los Angeles. . . 

San Diego 

San Bernardino. 

Kern 

Tulare 

Fresno 

Merced 

Stanislaus 

San Joaquin. . . . 
Sacramento .... 

.Solano 

Yolo 

Sutter 

Yuba 

Butte 

Colusa 

Tehama 

Shasta 

Trinity 

Siskiyou 

Modoc 

Lassen 

Plumas 

Sierra 

Nevada 

Placer 

El Dorado 

Amador 

Calaveras 

Tuolumne 

Mariposa , 

Alpine 

Mono 

Inyo 



394 JVhie Grapes Grown in California. 

Allusion has already been made to the growth and great- 
ness of the wine-grape interest of California. Progress is being 
continually made in the propagation of varieties yielding the 
best qualities of wine, and in the manufacture thereof. The 
hosts of considerations involved in this effort are beyond the 
scope of this work, and in great part beyond the knowledge of 
the writer. The undertaking is also an unfinished one, and 
much remains to be demonstrated by local experience and by 
scientific investigation. The best sources of informations avail- 
able are the publications commended on page 359. These, and 
the publications which will hereafter appear from the same 
sources, should be sought by the inquirer into matters connected 
with the wine industr}^ 

It will be interesting, however, to introduce lists of the 
grapes more or less widely grown in this State for the various 
kinds of wine, and these lists will be compiled from the reports 
of Professor Hilgard, adopting his classification, as foUows: — 

Southern French Type. — A. Hed. Alicante Bouschet, Aramon, Carignane 
Grenache, Cinsaut, Clairette Rouge, Etraire de I'Adhui, Gros Colman, Mataro 
Mourastel, Mondeuse, Sirah, Serine, Petit Bouschet, Ploussard, Trousseau, Black 
Malvoise. B. White. Chasselas de Fontainebleau, Chass. Rose, Chass. Victoria, 
Chauch<5 Gris, Clairette Blanche, Frontignan (Muskateller, Muscat Blanc, etc.), 
Roussanne, Marsanne, Ugni Blanc, Verdal, Folle Blanche, Burger (so-called). 

Bordeaux or Claret Type.— Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbeck, 
Merlot, Verdot, Gros Mancin, Tannat, St. Macaire Beclan, Gamay, Pied de Perdrix, 
(Jamay Teinturier, Teinturier male, Grossblaue, Blue Portuguese, Affenthaler, Blue 

T^n 1- fc> ' > 

Elbhng. 

Burgundy Type.— Franc Pinot, Petit Pinot, Pinot Noirien, Pinot Noir 
(P. de Pernand, de St. Georges, etc.), Meunier, Robin Noir (Pfeffer's Burgundy), 
Chaucht- Noir. White. Pinot Vert dore, Pinot Chardonay. 

Sauterne Type. — Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Vert (Colombar), Semillon 
Blanc; Muscadelle du Bordelais. 

Rhenish Type. — Johannisberg Riesling, Franken Riesling, Welsch Riesling, 
Orleans Riesling; Kleinberger (True Burger, Putzscheere), Traminer, Rulaender, 
Black Hamburg. 

North Italian Type. — Refosco (Crabb's Black Burgundy), Barbera, Fresa, 
Bonarda, Nebbilolo, Aleatico, Marzemino, Peverella, Spanna. "Of these only the 
first has been somevv-hat extensively cultivated, but this class is likely to be of the 
greatest importance in the future." 

Hungarian and Austrian. — Feher Szagos, Green Hungarian, Kadarka, 
Lagrein, Rothgipfler, Slancamenka, Stainschiller, Zinfandel. 

Ports. — Bastardo, Moretto, Tinta Amarella, Tinta Cao, Tinta Madeira, Tinta 
Val de Penas. 

Sherry and Madeira. — Beba, Boal Madeira, Malmsey, Mantuo de Pilas, 
Mission, Mourisco Branco, Mourisco Preto, Palomino, Peruno, Pedro Jimenes, 
Verdelho, West's White Prolific. 

American. — Agawam, Barry, Catawba, Concord, Cunningham, Clinton, Diana, 
Elvira, Goethe, Golden Champion, Golden Queen, Herbemont, Hartford, lona, Ives, 
Isabella, Isabella Regia, Lenoir, Taylor, Wilder. 

Other varieties are also grown, but this list includes those 
most largely used at present. 



Part Five: Semi-Tropical Fruits. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE DATE. 

The date palm (ph(X)iix dactylifera) was brought to Cali- 
fornia by the padres, as has been mentioned in Chapter V, and 
the oldest date trees in the State are the survivors of their early 
plantings. These trees are found at the San Diego mission, as 
shown in the engraving. They are conjectured to be a century 
old, and they have survived drought and neglect, making unsuc- 
cessful effort at fruiting, for, according to common report, the 
fruit does not ripen, but whether owing to the unfavorable con- 
ditions indicated, or to lack of fertilization of the bloom, is not 
known. There are handsomer trees at Ventura, on the site of 
the garden of the old mission of San Buena Ventura. They 
are described as about forty feet in height and ten feet in circum- 
ference at the base, with long, graceful, fern-like leaves, which 
put forth about thirty feet from the ground. 

The ill success of these old trees in the direction of fruit 
bearing probably long prevented further attention to the date as 
a profitable growth. Still there were date palms grown from 
seed of the commercial date planted here and there for orna- 
ment or out of curiosity, and in due course of time the fruit 
appeared. Interest slowly awakened to the possibility of plant- 
ing the date for profit, and induced more careful inquiry into 
the adaptation of California conditions to the successful growth 
of the tree. The first public exhibition of California dates known 
to the writer was made at the Mechanics' Institute Fair, in San 
Francisco, in September, 1877. The fruit was grown on the south 
bank of Putah Creek, the northern boundary of Solano County, 
the situation being slightly above the level of the plain of the 
Sacramento Valley, which lies east of it. The plants were 
grown by J. R. Wolfskill, from seed of commercial dates pur- 
chased in San Francisco, and planted in 1858 or 1859. The 
seed germinated readily, and the young plants were set out in 
a row about one hundred feet south of Putah Creek, on a rich, 
fine, sandy loam, lying about twenty-five feet above the bed of 

(395) 



396 



Calif ornia-G roivn Dates. 



the creek. The plants received good cultivation, but no irriga- 
tion. This treatment was continued after the property passed 
into the hands of S. C. Wolfskill, the plants being allowed to 
remain in the row as originally planted, and they have attained 
great size, considering their crowded condition, as shown in the 
engraving. They are approximately six feet apart, have trunks 
about two feet in diameter, and are twenty-five feet or more in 
height. The engraving shows the large clusters of fruit situated 
at the base of the leaves. 




Date Palm at the San Diego Mission. 

Another bearing date palm stands about a mile eastward 
of the situation just described, near the residence of J. R. Wolf- 
skill. It was grown from seed of the date of commerce, which 
was planted in 1863, and the tree bore its first fruit in 1880. In 



Requirements of the Date Palm. 



397 



the plate which shows this tree there also appears upon the right 
a taller date palm, which bears staminate bloom, as will be 
mentioned presently. This latter tree was originally one of the 
row previously described, and was successfully moved to its 
present situation after attaining considerable size. 

The fruit of these two bearing palms differs notably in ap- 
pearance. That of the first-mentioned tree is of bright yellow 
color and angular outline; that of the second tree is wine red, 
with smooth surface. Both are borne upon bright yellow, cord- 
like stems, which converge into the flattened, smooth, polished, 
bright yellow stalks, which emerge from between the leaf stems. 




iMlhS GkoU N AI 



NEAR Winters, Cal. 



The engraving, which was drawn from a fruit sample from the 
yellow-fruited palm, will give an idea of the form of the date 
cluster, and the shape of the berries. The weight of the cluster 
shown was about twenty-five pounds, and there were four larger 
ones on the tree when this was removed. 

REQUIREMENTS OF THE DATE. 

The successful fruiting of the palms described led Mr. W. 

G. Klee to make special inquiry into the requirements of the 

date palm, and the suitability of California conditions for its 

growth. The results were published by the United States De- 



398 Soils and Situations for the Date. 

partment of Agriculture.* Mr. Klee's conclusions maybe sum- 
marized as follows: — 

There exist in California many localities where dates would ripen, and undoubt- 
edly would prove a great acquisition. This fruit has ripened on Futah Creek, near 
Winters, Solano County, on a tree raised from seed, bearing about as early as in 
Egypt and Algeria. The few date palms grown outside of this region have been in 
localities too near the sea, or, rather, with too cool a temperature, where, according 
to all accounts, they never have ripened. When we consider that the propagation 
of the varieties of date palms developed during its long culture is chiefly carried on 
by means of the sprouts, the seeds being used only in the most favorable localities, 
the case of ripened dates in as high a latitude as 38^ N. is of great significance. It 
proves the importance of one of the factors for successful date growing possessed by 
California climate, viz., a long, dry, rainless season. A temperature not lower than 
18° Fahr. will not hurt good-sized trees, provided it occurs between November and 
March — that is, outside the period of flowering and fruit ripening; nor will the hot 
winds of the worst kinds hurt this palm, the home of which is the desert, and to the 
condition of which its nature seems to be perfectly adapted. 

The date palm, when supplied with even alkali water, will thrive in a climate 
too hot for any other fruit tree known, giving shade to plants that otherwise would 
suffer from the heat. 

Besides the locality already mentioned, the date has fruited at 
Santa Barbara, Fresno, at Santa Ana, in Los Angeles County, 
and near Phoenix, Arizona. There is little doubt that it will suc- 
ceed in any of the interior regions which have a sufficiently high 
summer temperature, and even the so-called Colorado Desert 
may be dotted with groves of date palmsas portions of it now are 
with groves of the majestic fan palm of California. 

Soils and Waters for the Date. — In California thus 
far the date palm has only been planted on good orchard land, 
but, according to experience in date-growing countries, the tree 
does not require rich soil, but on the contrary will thrive in a 
soil poor in humus — too poor and too purely mineral for any 
other fruit tree; and it produces the finest and best-flavored 
dates, nourished by water too alkaline for man and beast to 
drink. These observations should lead to trials of the tree in 
situations not adapted to other fruits. 

PROPAGATION OF THE DATE. 

The date palm grows readily from the seeds of the dried 
date of commerce, and, as has been intimated, the trees now 
fruiting in this State have been obtained in this way. By the 
use of seed, one gets, however, only seedlings, and the chance of 
thus securing a really fine variety is probably not greater than 
with other fruit-tree seedlings. In date-growing countries the 
best varieties are propagated by rooting the off-sets, sprouts, or 
suckers which appear at the base of the old palms. To secure 
the best foreign varieties such plants must be imported, and the 

""Culture of the Date," by W. G. Klee, gardener in charge of agricultural grounds, Uni\ersity 
of California: Washington, Government Printing Office, 1S83. 



1 



Propagation of Date Palms. 399 

enterprise will require much care to be sure that the best vari- 
eties are furnished by the foreign growers, and the cost will be 
considerable. It is to be hoped, however, that the effort may 
be erelong undertaken. In securing such foreign varieties one 
can select early ripening sorts, which is very desirable when re- 
moving the date so far from the tropics. 

Growing Dates from Seed.— As this method of secur- 
ing date palms is readily available, and as possibly there may 
be really desirable varieties originated here, the following in- 
structions for handling date seeds, by the late H. Von Borstel, 
a date grower of Lower California, are given: — 

Large dates, with small, thin seed-stone, fine skin, and sweet, aromatic taste, 
should be selected. The seeds are placed, with the point of the seed where the 
stalk was down, in boxes eighteen inches deep, filled with sand and well-rotted ma- 
nure. Place the seed two inches apart and cover about two inches deep with sand. 
Place the boxes in the sunshine, shade partially, and protect them at night. Water 
daily with water tha't is not cold. Planted in September or October, the shoots, 
which appear like grass blades, should be out of the ground by winter, and they are 
then transplanted when the soil is in good condition, taking care not to handle the 
roots. Holes two to three feet deep should be dug and filled with sand and well- 
rotted manure, the young plants placed therein, and watered after planting. After 
planting they require watering every eight to twelve days until the leaves are six or 
eight inches high, after which they will usually thrive without further watering if the 
soil can be kept moist by cultivation. 

This practice may be varied considerably, of course, and 
any method which gives the young plant sufficient warmth and 
moisture after germination will be likely to succeed. Nor is it 
necessary to use sand in planting, providing the soil is light 
enough to withstand baking and cracking. The seed germinates 
with great readiness. Mr. Samuel H. Gerrish, of Sacramento, 
says he has seen the young plants springing up in the streets of 
that city, where date seeds have been thrown during the rainy 
season. 

The seeds may be sown in open seed-bed, if slightly pro- 
tected by cloth or lath frame, and the plants reset in nursery 
row to be placed in permanent position after attaining more 
size. They transplant well if a ball of earth is taken up with 
the roots. 

If grown in boxes, which is, perhaps, preferable, because 
more easily watered and cared for, they may be afterwards pot- 
ted for a time, but the plant should not remain long in the pot 
because of the circular growth soon assumed by the roots. 

Rooting Suckers. — Suckers taken off in w^arm weather 
and watered freely usually take root readily. Care should be 
taken not to let the plants dry. In growing plants from suck- 
ers one gets fruit much sooner than from seedlings. 



400 Bloom and Beauty of the Date. 

Bearing Age of the Date. — There is, however, much 
difference in the ages at which the seedh'ngs have come in 
fruit in the hands of different growers. H. Goepper, of Santa 
Ana, Los Angeles County, reports fruit on seedHngs six years 
old. H. Von Borstel, of Lower California, secured fruit from 
plants four years from the seed. This early maturity cannot, 
however, be generally expected, though it seems likely that the 
date will bear quite as early as in the famous date regions 
of the eastern hemisphere. 

Transplanting Large Date Palms. — Mr. Gerrish says 
he has had good success in "transplanting trees ten to fifteen 
years old by removing them in the summer months, taking off 
all the leaves except the five central ones, and cutting off half 
the length of these, and every day pouring a pailful of water 
over the top of the tree to keep it moist. With this treatment 
they may be as easily transplanted as any other tree. Be sure 
and give them a dressing of salt — it is the manure for a date 
tree, as it is a native of a saline soil." Of course, it is desirable 
to move as large a ball of earth with the roots as convenient to 
handle. 

Blooming of the Date. — The date palm is dioecious, and 
its staminate (male) and pistillate (female) blooms appearing on 
different trees, it requires the association of the two for perfect 
fruiting. Growing plants from seed leaves the grower in doubt 
as to the sex of his plants until they bloom. Mr. Von Borstel 
obtained a large preponderence of male plants. In propagating 
from suckers the new tree is of the same sex as the parent. It 
is advised to have about one male to twenty female trees. The 
pollen can be transported long distances and maintains its vital- 
ity for a long time. 

Artificial fertilization of the bloom of the bearing palm has 
been found of advantage in this State, and is practiced by J. R. 
Wolfskin. Though the staminate tree is but a few feet away 
from the pistillate, the male bloom is broken in pieces and hung 
to the leaves of the female tree near to the pistillate flowers. 
It is found that the parts of the date cluster which are nearest 
to these suspended male blooms have more perfect fruit than 
the more distant parts. 

In Winters the bearing palms bloom in April or May, and 
the fruit ripens in November. 

Beauty of the Date Palm. — The date palm in fruit is a 
beautiful sight. The glaucous green pinnate leaves arch outward. 



Beauty of the Date in Fruit. 401 

Between two of these emerge the bright orange yellow polished 
fruit stalks, which divide into a spray of slender bright yellow 
stems a foot or so in length; and thickly set upon these in 
clusters are the coral red date- berries, covered with a rich bloom. 
It is a sight not easily forgotten by a lover of nature, and es- 
pecially by one reared in a Northern zone, the characteristic 
vegetation of which is so different. 



26 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
THE FIG. 

The fig is, perhaps, the grandest fruit tree of CaUfornia. 
Its majestic size and its symmetry make it a crowning feature 
of the landscape, and its dense foHage renders the wide space 
embowered by it a harbor of refuge from midsummer heat, 
both for idlers and for the industrious. On adjacent farms in 
Pleasant's Valley, Solano County, there are large fig groves; 
one serves as a shelter for the packers of fruit from the contig- 
uous orchard, and the other incloses and shades a croquet-ground. 
Measurements of large trees are abundant, for old trees are 
numerous in the interior of the State, both in the valley and on 
the slopes of the Sierra foot-hills. At Knight's Ferry, in Stan- 
islaus County, there is, in the orchard of George A. Goodell, a 
fig tree sixty feet in height, with branches of such length as to 
shade a circle seventy feet in diameter. The trunk at the base 
is eleven feet around, and nine feet at a distance of three feet 
from the ground. A little higher the trunk divides into seven 
or eight large branches, each of which is nearly five feet in cir- 
cumference. At thirty feet from the ground the limbs are seven 
and eight inches through. The largest grove in the neighbor- 
hood of Knight's Ferry is owned by J. H. Prouse, and consists 
of fifteen massive black fig trees, which, though set sixty feet 
apart, mingle their branches overhead and form a network 
through which, in the summer, hardly a beam of light can pass. 
Beneath their branches, at midday, a heavy twilight prevails, 
and a person entering their shade from the sunlight without ex- 
psriences the sensation of entering a darksome cave.* 

Such groves are frequently seen in the older settled parts 
of the State. Perhaps the most interesting single fig tree is 
that on Rancho Chico, quite near the residence of General Bid- 
well. It was planted in 1856, and has attained a marvelous 
growth. One foot above the ground the trunk measures 
eleven feet in circumference; the wide-spreading branches have 
been trained toward the around, and taking root there, banvan- 



'Modesto //tv-j/f/, luly 17, iSSS. 
(402) 



ll'uit' Range of the Fig. 403 

like, they now form a wonderlul inclosure over one hundred and 
fifty feet in diameter. The tree is loaded every year. 

The crop on these large trees is proportionate to their size, 
and entering their area in the morning during the ripening sea- 
son, one can scarcely step without crushing figs, though the fruit 
is gathered up each day and placed in the sun for drying. 

REGIONS SUITED FOR THE FIG. 

Though there are still many fine points to be determined 
as to what situations and conditions favor the production of 
the very finest figs, and there are indications that there is possi- 
bly much difference, it may be truly said that a very small part 
of the State is really unsuited to its growth. If one shuns the 
immediate coast of the upper part of the State, where the sum- 
mer temperature is too low for successful ripening, and keeps 
below the altitude on the mountains where winter killing of the 
trees is possible, he can grow figs almost anywhere. Robert 
Williamson, of Sacramento, an experienced grower, said: * 

It is a thoroughly demonstrated fact that the fig tree will grow most luxuriantly, 
thrive, and bear great crops, on most all of our valley, plains, mesa, and foot-hill 
lands, from one end of the State to the other. The warm, dry alluvial soils, and dry, 
warm climates of the interior valleys and foot-hills, seem to be peculiarly adapted to 
its successful culture and curing, h will grow and bear good crops of fruit on lands 
too dry to mature other fruits. It will also do well on our rich, moist bottom lands, 
provided they are well drained. So that there is no fruit that can be more generally 
grown all over our Slate than the fig, and no other with so little care and risks, or 
that is more profitable in the end, if we get good varieties and handle the fruit 
properly. 

Selection of varieties adapted to particular situations has 
much to do with the success of the fig, as with other fruits, and, 
therefore, a broad statement of adaptability must be received 
with such an understanding. This fact is well pointed out by 
W. B. West, of Stockton, as follows: — 

Experience has shown us that the common black fig of California will grow and 
produce an abundant crop in almost every part of this State, and many, reasoning 
from this, believe that all kinds will do equally as well. This is a great mistake. 
The more tender varieties of white figs, which grow freely in the south of Europe 
and Asia Minor, will not succeed except where the nights, as well as the days, are 
warm, and where there is moisture enough in the soil to produce good trees. Such 
places are to be found in the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, especially on the margin 
of the rivers, where the soil is deep, rich, and moist; in the warm valleys of the Up- 
per Sacramento and San Joaquin, in Vaca Valley, and in many other warm localities. 
In a large portion of San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties the nights are too cold, 
and except in siieltered places the trees will not mature in their fruit. The same will 
be the case in all counties under the same climatic influences. 

These unfavorable influences to which Mr. West alludes are 
the intrusion of the coast temperature borne eastward by the 



'Essay at Sacramento Fruit Growers' Convention, i3S6. 



404 Soils for the Fig. 

trade-winds of suminer, as described in Chapter I. As these 
winds are warmer in Southern Cah'fornia than in the upper parts 
of the State, the area of successful fig culture draws nearer to 
the coast at the South than at the North. 

SOILS FOR THE FIG. 

As it must be left with the future to determine the mooted 
point as to the influence of special situations upon the bearing 
of the fig, and the more minute characteristics of the fruit, so 
more experience is needed to demonstrate the comparative effects 
of different soils. It might seem, from the fact of the age of 
our trees in different parts of the State, that time enough had 
elapsed to determine these points, but it must be remembered 
that all our oldest trees are of the variety found at the missions, 
and conclusions drawn from them as to all varieties is unsafe, as 
Mr. West has pointed out. 

The fig will thrive in any soil that one would think of se- 
lecting for any of our common orchard trees, and in fact the fig 
succeeds on a wider range of soils than any one of them. Mr. 
James Stewart, of Downey, Los Angeles County, gives his ex- 
perience, as follows: — 

I have been for the last fifteen years in the experimenting and the testing of dif- 
ferent varieties of figs and the soil best suited to their growth. My observations 
have been that they do well on almost any kind of soil. I have some growing on 
high, dry, sandy soil, where it is twenty feet down to water; also some on a rich, 
sandy loam, about ten feet to w ter. Again, I have them growing on stiff adobe, not 
more than five or six feet to water, and they all grew vigorously and well. 

This experience agrees with that of fig growers in other 
parts of the State, and one is safe in planting figs for family use, 
or for marketing, wherever the summer temperature is high 
enough to ripen the fruit well, and the winter temperature high 
enough to preserve the life of the tree. This applies merely to 
the successful growth of the fig; to secure ripening at a time when 
the fruit can be profitably sold for table use, is another question. 

The selection of soils especially suitable to the production 
of the best figs for drying involves more considerations than 
rule in the growth of table fruit. For drying, the fig should at- 
tain a good size, but should not contain excess of moisture. In 
some parts of the State the first crop of figs in the season has 
been found unfit for drying. The second, and in some localities 
the third crop, appearing later in the season, when the moisture 
supply of the soil is reduced, dry well. This condition of the 
first crop is, however, affected by local conditions, for there are 
places in the Sierra foot-hills where the soil moisture has to be 
replenished early in the season by irrigation to prevent even the 



Propagation of the Fig. 405 

first crop from falling prematurely, and subsequent Irrigation 
brings to perfection the second and third crops. The fig tree 
needs plenty of moisture in the soil, but not too much. As with 
other fruits, if the soil does not retain the needed amount 
naturally, it must be supplied by irrigation wisely administered 

PROPAGATION OF THE FIG. 

The fig grows very readily from cuttings, and this is the 
cliief method of propagation. Cuttings should be made while 
the tree is fully dormant, in the winter, of well-matured wood 
of the previous season's growth. The cut at the lower end 
should be made at the joint, or made where solid wood is found. 
The planting and care of the cuttings is essentially the same as 
of vine cuttings, as described on page 367. If well made and 
cared for, a very satisfactory growth is made the first season, 
and the trees are ready for planting out in permanent place the 
following season. 

Single-bud Cuttings. — If one desires to multiply a new 
variety very rapidly, single-eye cuttings will make plants. This 
is, also, analogous to single-eye grape cuttings, as described on 
page 364. 

Budding the Fig. — The foregoing means enable one to 
propagate a fig so rapidly that recourse is not had to budding, 
as in propagating other trees; still, budding is feasible, either on 
small plants or on young shoots of old trees which it is desired 
to work over. 

The fig may be budded by the common shield method, as 
used for ordinary fruit trees, and described on page 105, but 
owing to the tendency of the fig bark to shrink in drying, the 
bud should be closely bound in with a narrow waxed band (see 
page 109) to exclude the air. As the fig bark is thick, it is often 
desirable to cut out a little of the edges closest to the bud when 
in place. 

A better method of budding the fig is by annular or "ring 
budding," a method also relied upon with the walnut and chest- 
nut.* Annular budding, as shown in Figs, i and 2, is done in the 
fall. A circular ring of bark is taken off from the stock, as 
shown in the first figure on the left, which operation is done by 
the aid of a budding knife, by running two circular cuts around 
the stock, and a longitudinal one between the two circular cuts, 
the ring of bark taken off having the appearance shown in 



Felix Cillet, Nevada City, in Rural Press. 



4o6 



Biiddiuii the Fur. 



Fig. 2. This ring must be at least one inch wide, and from that 
up to two inches. A lii<e ring of bark is taken off in the same 
manner from a scion of the variety to be budded in, and from a 
branch of the year, or preceding one, well in sap, and having 
about the same diameter as the stock. This ring should have 
on it one or two buds. It must fit exactly the space {a) seen on 







It f ^ 

Annular and Whistle Budding Illustrated. 

Fig. I, and more particularly at the lower circular cut (/^), so that 
both barks will exactly unite at that point. When the ring is 
too long, a little bit of it might be cut off with a very sharp 
knife till it fits well; if the ring is too large for the stock, a lon- 
gitudinal strip would be cut out, and if too narrow, such a strip, 
if with a bud on so much the better, will have to be used to 
fill up the empty space. One must be very careful while 
drawing the knife around the stock not to go too deep into the 
wood to injure the cambium layer, or to weaken the stock. Tie 
a bandage pretty firmly over the whole. After two or three 
weeks the bandage has to be taken off, and, in the ensuing 
spring, the top of the stock or limb is cut down three inches 
above the budding. 

Another way of working such trees is by "whistle budding," 
which is done in the spring, when the sap is well up. Figs. 3 and 
4 show this method. The stock and scion must be both of the 
same size and well in sap. The top of the stock is cut down to 
several inches from the ground; a circular ring of bark is then 
taken off, and a corresponding ring from the scion, but without 
a longitudinal cut, is put in its place. In inserting it, care should 
be taken that the top of the stock, which is to receive the ring 
from the scion, be very smooth, and the latter is then easily 
pushed down around it and bandaged. In the case of the fig, 
it is especially desirable to use the latter method when the sap 



Grafts and Seedling Figs. 407 

is up, because if the top of the stock is not removed, the exuda- 
tion from above sours around the bud and prevents the union 
of bud and stock.* 

To prepare an old fig tree for budding over, the h'mbs may 
be cut back in February within two to six feet of the trunk, 
covering the ends with shellac or grafting-wax. Allow two 
shoots to start near the end of each of these amputated limbs, 
and rub off all other shoots. Bud the shoots when they attain 
the thickness of one's finger, taking green buds from the growth 
it is desired to introduce, or let them grow and bud in the fall, 
whichever is most convenient; or bud in the growing shoot, and 
rebud in the fall where buds have failed. 

Grafting the Fig. — The fig can be grafted by the cleft- 
graft method, as described on page 116. Especial care must be 
taken, hovv^ever, in excluding the air. Mr. A. M. Gass, of San 
Diego, reports success by filling the cleft between the scions with 
hot wax, which will run in and fill the cavity. Then he binds 
the stock with wax bands, taking the greatest care to cover the 
exposed wood surface, the cut end of the bark (which in the fig 
is very prone to shrink and draw back), and as far down the 
stock as the bark has been split. He has best success with 
grafting in February. 

Objection is made to both budded and grafted fig trees be- 
cause of their disposition to sucker incessantly. 

Seedling Figs. — Figs are readily grown from the im- 
ported fig of commerce, and the growth of seedlings began very 
early in this State, for it is recorded that Major Reading had a 
seedling fig tree in bearing in 1858, bearing "figs of uncommon 
size."-f- Dr. Gustav Eisen, of Delano, Kern County, our leading 
writer on the fig, gives the following explicit directions for grow- 
ing the fig from seed: — 

Cut open imported Smyrna figs; wash out the seeds in warm water; those that 
float are empty and worthless; those that sink are generally fertile. Sow these in 
shallow boxes of sand and loam mixed, and place in a frame under glass. In three 
weeks they will be up and must be very sparingly watered. Set out next season in 
nursery row. In three years from the seed such plants will be found to bear. Do 
not throw away plants until six to eight years old, as some may develop, or show 
their qualities late.J 

Dr. Eisen states that California figs, as now grown, do not 
contain fertile seeds; also, that the tendency of the plants grown 



"W. W. Smith, Vacaville, at Los Angeles Convention, 1S85. 
t Agricultural .Society Report, 1858, p. 223. 

t"The Fig of Commerce: Its Culture and Curing," and a descriptive catalogue of all its known 
varieties. By Gustav Eisen, Rural Cali/ornian, Los Angeles, 1888. 



408 Planting and Pruning. • 

from Smyrna figs is to revert to the wild type — still there is a 
chance of securing good varieties, and the effort is commended 
to horticultural experimenters. Mr. E. W. Maslin, of Sacra- 
mento, has a large number of seedlings now on trial. 

PLANTING AND PRUNING THE FIG. 

The chief point to observe in planting fig trees is to get 
them far enough apart, because of the great spread of branches 
which they attain. Of course they may be planted twenty feet 
apart if the owner intends to remove alternate rows, but to 
plant at forty feet, or even farther apart, with other fruit trees or 
vines between, on the plan of alternate or double squares, de- 
scribed on page 121, would be the best way to layout a fig 
orchard — the intermediate growths to be removed as the figs 
require more room. Mr. Williamson's advice is for rather closer 
planting, as follows: — 

The fig is a long lived and strong growing tree, and the trees should be planted 
farther apart than most other fruit trees, especially the stronger growing kinds, such 
as the Large Purple, Pacific White, and White Adriatic. The San Pedro and White 
Ischia are not strong growers, and consequently might be planted closer, but even 
they want plenty of room. I would recommend planting fig trees from twenty-six 
10 thirty-two feet apart. Then fill in with grape-vines, berries, or some other fruit 
trees, such as peaches, plums, prunes, or quinces, something that can be taken out at 
the end of ten or twelve years, or so soon as the fig trees need all the room. Thus a 
quick and constant return can be realized from all the land. The fig and grape do 
well together, and I should prefer filling it with grapes to anything else, if the land 
is well adapted to grape growing. The vines can remain in the fig orchard fully as 
long, if not longer, than most anything else; but I would not plant them too close 
to the tree. Then, in thinning out, take out those nearest the trees first; they need 
not all be taken out at once. 

Very handsome effects are produced by planting the fig 
along avenues to inclose orchards of other fruits. 

In transplanting fig trees extra care must be taken to keep 
the roots from drying. After planting, the stem must be dili- 
gently guarded from sunburn, to which it is liable in the warmer 
parts of the State. The ways described on page 145 are avail- 
able for this purpose. 

Pruning the Fig. — The fig requires very little pruning 
after its shape is outlined. There is difference of opinion and 
practice as to the height at which the head should be formed; 
some head as low as already advised for common orchard trees; 
others, having in mind the immense thickness attained by the 
limbs, and their disposition to droop, head as high as four to six 
feet. Dr. Eisen advises low heading of trees grown for table 
figs, which must be picked, and high heading for trees grown 
for drying, so that access can be had to all parts of the ground 



Bearing Age of the Fig. 409 

for cleaning up rubbish, and for gathering the fallen fruit from 
the smoothed ground. No fixed rules can be derived from Cal- 
ifornia practice, except that figs are generally headed somewhat 
higher than other trees. 

In shaping the tree, branches should be brought out at a 
distance apart on the stem, so that there may be room for their 
expansion without crowding each other, and care should be 
taken not to leave too many main limbs. Three limbs, well 
placed around the stem, are enough. The branches putting out 
on the under side of these limbs should be suppressed, and those 
growing upright, or obliquely upright, retained. After getting 
the general shape of the tree fixed, there is little need of pruning 
except to remove branches which will cross and interfere with 
each other, etc. 

Cultivation. — Young fig orchards are cultivated as are 
other fruit areas. Old trees which completely shade the ground 
are usually left to themselves, without cultivation, except cutting 
out weeds. Irrigation is governed by local conditions, as already 
stated. 

BEARING AGE OF THE FIG. 

The fig often, and, perhaps, usually, begins its bearing very 
early, in the most favorable situations in this State. Some 
fruit is often had the second year, and a crop worth handling, 
the third year. Still it is wiser not to calculate definitely upon 
such returns, for four or five years sometimes pass without a 
satisfactory crop. We have, also, instances of "barren fig trees," 
which persist in "dropping their untimely figs," year after year, 
during their youth. How much of this is due to variety, and 
how much to locality, is not definitely known, but successful 
fruiting has been secured by grafting over barren trees, using 
scions from bearing trees growing adjacent to them. 

CaI'RIFICATION. — The fine arts of fig growing, as practiced 
abroad, have, as yet, no place in Californian practice. Caprifica- 
tion, which consists of suspending the fruit of the wild or capri 
fig in the branches of the tree of improved variety, that the 
pollen may be carried by an insect from the former to the latter, 
has been fully discussed in this State in the light of European 
researches, but has not been reduced to practical demonstration, 
nor is it known that we have the insect needed for the work. 
The means of securing early ripening of the fruit by injecting 
a drop of oil in the eye of the fruit has not been practiced to 
any extent, nor does it appear that our markets would repay 
the effort. 



4IO Varieties of the Fig. 

Foes of the Fig. — The fig is freer from insect pests than 
other fruit trees, and yet it is a mistake to consider it wholly 
free. The writer has seen the leaves well covered with a lecaniiint 
scale, and has found a moth larva boring in the pith of the young 
shoots; still, practically, the fig tree in California has not yet 
suffered from insects. 

The gopher has a pronounced appetite for fig roots, and 
their presence should be carefully watched for. Swine have a 
liking for fig bark. The trees of the grand grove planted at 
Hock Farm, on the Feather River, by General Sutter, have been 
completely girdled from the ground as high as a pig could reach 
by standing on its hind legs. Figs make good food for hogs, 
and plantations have been made with this in view, but if the 
hogs are to be harvesters, it will be well to protect the stems of 
the trees from them. 

VARIETIES OF THE FIG. 

The fig presents what may be termed an aggravated exam- 
ple of the confused nomenclature which pervades California 
fruits. Dr. Eisen has made a commendable effort, to which 
reference has already been made, to bring order out of chaos by 
a study of foreign records and locally grown fruit, and has pub- 
lished a catalogue of all known varieties, with descriptions of 
the characteristics of each. Ever since the introduction of im- 
proved fruits began, European fig varieties have been brought 
here by immigrants from fig countries and by Americans who 
have visited these regions. These varieties bearing local names 
have been almost inextricably confused by distribution in this 
State. There have also been many special efforts made to se- 
cure the true Smyrna fig, from the fruit of which the fine white 
figs of commerce are prepared, and it is believed that this vari- 
ety has been obtained. Recently there have been large col- 
lections of foreign varieties, true to name, imported, as, for 
example, the introduction by John Rock, of San Jose, which in- 
cludes the varieties described by Hogg. Trees of this importa- 
tion have been planted at the University Agricultural Experi- 
ment Stations in Amador, Tulare, and San Luis Obispo Counties, 
and will serve erelong as a source whence cuttings true to name 
can be obtained. 

The following is a condensed compilation from the writings 
of Dr. Eisen and others, descriptive of the varieties now chiefly 
grown in this State; it must be borne in mind, however, that 
local conditions have much to do with modifying what may be 
called the plastic elements in the formation of the fruit, such as 
color, thickness, and texture of skin, etc., and therefore the de- 



Figs Chiefly Grozvn in California. 41 r 

scriptions given may not be accurate for all localities, l^ossibly 
a later revision may take cognizance of these local variations: — 

Brown Turkey. — "Fruit large, pyriform; skin brownish red, with blui.- bloom, 
thick; pulp sweet and good, of no color; a very prolific and hardy variety." — ])r. 
Eisen. The earliest fig in the San Francisco market. 

Brunswick. — "Fruit very large, pyriform, oblique at the apex, which is much 
depressed; skin greenish yellow in the shade, pale brown in the sun; very hardy, but 
bf.-aring qualities medium to poor." — Dr. Eisen. "After careful comparison and 
thorough investigation, we have come to the conclusion that this is the same fig 
which has besn sold here for many years as the Smyrna. After the California black, 
it is the best adapted for general cultivation." — John Rock. 

California Black; Mission fig. — The most widely grown variety, until recent 
additions of fine white sorts; large, dark purple, very productive and harrly. "It 
has many qualities that commend it; when properly cured it is delicious, and, in the 
opinion of many, equal to the imported Smyrna. Its color alone prevents it from 
being a favorite in the market, and still, with an inferior price, its unusual produc- 
tiveness renders it profitable." — W. B. West. 

Brown Ischia. — "Fruit medium, roundish turbinate; skin light brown, or 
chestnut colored, bursts easily after showers of r.ain; eye very large; pulp sweet and 
tolerably weil flavored, and of deep purple color; tree hardy, a good grower and 
bearer."' — Dr. Eisen. 

White Ischia. — "Fruit small, turbinate; skin very thin, greenish yellow with 
brownish shade from the inside; purple meat, rich, but with little flavor; tree with 
round, deeply-lobed leaves, round head, a good grower and bearer." — Dr. Eisen. 

Grosse Marseillaise; White Marseillaise, White Genoa, etc. — "Fruit above 
medium, quite round, with short neck; skin bright yellow, with bright spots; ribs well 
marked longitudinally; pulp full, sugary, juicy; good for table and drying." — Dr. 
Eisen. 

Marseillaise; Petite Marseillaise, Burnham's Smyrna. — "Fruit medium to 
small, roundish turbinate; skin greenish yellow, no bloom; ribs distinct even to the stalk; 
pulp rose-colored in the center, opaline toward the stalk; very sugary and sweet, but 
not high flavored, good for drying; inferior to Grosse Marseillaise in size and flavor, 
but less tender." — Dr. Eisen. 

San Pedro. — "Large upright growing tree, leaves woolly, dark green; fruit large 
(three to four inches in diameter), sliape nearly round and somewhat flattened; skin 
greenish yellow, bright deep yellow in the sun, no bloom, thick but very tender; eye 
very large, open; pulp light amber opaline, with traces of rose; coarse but sweet." — 
Dr. Eisen. 

White Adriatic. — This variety is at present the most widely distributed white 
fig in California. Dr. Eisen gives the following interesting account of its introduc- 
tion and distribution: "The true name of this fig is Fico di Fragola, or strawberry fig. 
The name Verdoni was given by W. B. West, who recognized the tree under that 
name in Italy. The name White Adriatic was invented by the laie G. N. Milco. 
The fig has been at least twice imported from Italy to California; the first time by an 
Italian, who sold the trees to W. V>. West and G. N. Milco, of Stockton, many (ten 
to twenty) years ago. Messrs. G. N. Milco, W. C. West, W. M. Williams, and 
(iustav Eisen, were the first to discover its superior qualities, and to propagate and 
distribute it extensively. The fig is proving one of the finest grown." W. B. West 
writes; "Trees of this variety are growing at Knight's Ferry, Stanislaus County, that 
were planted twenty years ago. It is a strong-growing, hardy kind, and will bear a 
crop where most of the tender kinds will not." The fruit, as grown in San Joacjuin 
Valley, is described by Dr. Eisen as follows: "Medium or above medium size. 



412 



The White Adriatic Fiz- 



rounded pyriform, with medium neck, but short stalk; skin greenish in the shade, 
turning to bright greenish yellow In the sun; ribs rather obscure; eye open, with red 
iris; pulp bright strawberry red, drying to a rather pale yellow; skin very thin, and 
together with the pulp, forms a most delicious aromatic sweetmeat when grown in 
favorable places." 




The White Adriatic Fig. 



Bulletin Smyrna. — Of several attempts to secure the true Smyrna tig, or the 
variety which produces the well-known Smyrna fig of commerce, that made by the 
San Francisco Bulletin, and managed by G. P. Rixford, has achieved most prom- 
inence, and is now generally conceded to have proved successful. Fourteen thousand 
cuttings were obtained through United States Consul E. J. Smithers, in 1882, and a 
large part of these were distributed throughout the State. As the trees came into 
bearing there was much complaint of dropping fruit, but in a few places, at least, the 
fruit has matured, and samples of the dried figs shown by H. E. Parker, of Penryn, 
Placer County, at the Fruit Growers' Convention at Chico, November, 1888, and 
pronounced by a committee consisting of \V. W. Smith, F. A. Kimball, and G. M. 
Gray, superior to the imported Smyrna figs, and to the White Adriatic grown in this 
State. Fresh specimensof the Bulletin Smyrna grown by Mr. Parker were described 
and compared with White Adriatic (grown in Alameda County), as follows: Medium 
to large; short, thick, roundish; longitudinal equal to transverse diameter; somewhat 
oblique, ribbed, very short neck or none at all; stem medium to large, rather stout — 
larger than that of White Adriatic; color pea green, fading to light greenish, creamy 
tint at maturity; eye rather open and showing pink or red inside; flesh delicate, semi- 
transparent, pinkish amber, deepening slightly at maturity — lighter than Adriatic; 
skin very thin and delicate right up to the stem; very juicy when ripe; skin cracking 
and juice flowing out, if not carefully handled, as a thick, transparent syrup of a 
honey-like flavor; very sweet and luscious; leaves ver)' deeply lobed; young wood 
brown, old wood grayish. 



The Bulletin Smyrna Fig. 



413 



The accompanying engravings showthe White Adriatic, grown by the California 
Nursery at Niles, Alameda County, and the Bulletin Smyrna, grown by Mr. Parker, 
at Penryn, Placer County. 




TiiE IJuLLEiiN Smyrna Fig. 

The latest direct importation of fig cuttings from Smyrna was made by W. C. 
West for F. Uoeding, proprietor of the Fancher Creek Nursery of Fresno. 

Pacific White.— An unknown variety found growing on a farm in Placer 
County, named and propagated by W. R. Strong & Co., of Sacramento, who de- 
scribe it: "Medium size, fine grained, very sweet; dries well, but the skin is thicker 
and more tough than the imported fig. That and its small size are the only objections 
to it." 



CHAPTER XXX 



THE OLIVE. 

The olive is another of the old mission fruits which has 
recently risen to a high place in the public mind. Though the 
tree and its products have been constantly under discussion 
since the American occupation, and though experimentation has 
been constant, it is only within a very few years that the tide of 
popular favor has turned strongly toward the olive. Probably 

the present disposition to 
investment in olive planta- 
tions for oil is due more to the 
successful enterprise of Ell- 
wood Cooper, of Santa Bar- 
bara, than to any other single 
influence. Mr. Cooper's faith 
in the olive exhibited itself 
several years ago in the 
generous outlay he made to 
secure the information and 
outfit required for oil mak- 
ing. He made a devoted 
personal study of the enter- 
prise, and receives his re- 
ward in the form of excellent 
prices for his product, and 
the consciousness of having 
done well for the State. 
There seems at present some 
danger that the price at 
which Mr. Cooper and other 
early olive planters have at- 
tained success, may be overlooked. It is true that the advice 
which they generously give will guard new planters against 
mistakes, and save them much labor and expense in inquiry 
and experiment, and yet it should not be forgotten that the 
preparation of olive products is one of the higher arts of manu- 
facturing, and nothing short of patient and persistent personal 




The Olive in Bi.oom and in Fruit. 



(414) 



Requirements of Olive Culture. 415 

effort will win success. Though the enterprising pioneers in 
olive culture have opened the way, it cannot be followed with 
closed eyes. Some persons, either through ignorance, or through 
interest in the sale of plants or lands, seem disposed to give the 
inexperienced planter the idea that olive oil is as easily and 
quickly made as cider, and that pickling olives is not more dif- 
ficult than salting cucumbers. The future is full of promise, 
but probably only those who are willing to labor and to wait 
will succeed in olive products. It will require several years to 
determine the commercial features of the industry on the basis 
of a large product, but the data will be forthcoming, because 
the area of young olive trees is now large, and is being rapidly 
extended. 

One indication of the popularity of the olive may be found 
in the amount of local literature* devoted to the methods of its 
culture and the profits to be derived therefrom. There has been 
more published on the olive than on any other single fruit grown 
in California, except, perhaps, the grape, and yet the present value 
of the olive product is small as compared with that of other fruits. 
Because of the amount of information available, and, in the case 
of the publications of the State Board of Horticulture, to be 
had for the asking, it is thought best to restrict the treatment of 
the olive in this connection, in the main, to useful suggestions 
on culture as practiced in this State. Several of the works al- 
ready cited indulge freely in discussion of analogies between 
California and European conditions and practices, and are useful 
in that they save the general reader from researches in foreign 
tongues. 

CLIMATE, SITUATION, AND SOIL. 

Mr. Redding, in his paper on the olive, cites manj- foreign 
authorities to show that the temperature to favor the olive must 
be a mean annual not below 57°; the mean for the coldest month 
must be as warm as 41°, and at no time must the temperature 



*The olive literature of California inchides the following: — 

Redding, B B. "The Olive in California." California .Acad, of Sciences, Feb., 1S78. 

Hleasdale, J. I. "The Olive Tree and Its Products, and the Suitability of the Soil and Climate 
of California for Its Extensive and Profitable Cultivation." Dewey & Co., San Fiancisco, iSSi. 

Cooper. EUwood. "Olive Culture in California." .Santa Barbara, 1882 (republished in Rep rt 
California State .Vsricultural Society, 1887). also later essays in Reports State Board of Horticuliurc. 
1886 and 1888. 

Klee, W, G. "The Olive." State University Bulletin 41, 1885, and revised in University Re- 
port, 1887. 

Pohndorff, F. "'.V Memoir on Olive Growing," 1884; republished in Report State Board 
Horticulture, 1886. 

Flamant, A. ".\ Practical Treatise on Olive Culture," etc. Louis Gregoire & Co., San Fran- 
cisco. 1887. 

Marvin, A. T. "The Olive: Its Culture, in Tlieory and Practice." Payot, Upham & Co., San 
Francisco, i888. 

Lelong, B. M. "The Olive in California: Varieties, Budding, Grafting, and General Observa- 
tions." Special publication by State Board of Horticulture, 1888. 



41 6 ' Soi'/s for the Olive. 

fall below 14°. The consideration of these requirements in con- 
nection with the characteristics of the California climate, as 
sketched in Chapters I and II of this book, will show how 
wide an area of the State is theoretically suited for the olive. 

During the last few years testimony from actual growth has 
accumulated showing that the tree will thrive throughout the 
larger part of California, and it has been shown that it will grow 
in a soil too dry even for the grape-vine, and too rocky for any 
fruit tree. The hills and mountain slopes, not fit for the pasture 
of even a goat, can be made to produce olives. In such situa- 
tions the trees bear fruit earlier than in the rich valleys, although 
in the latter the trees attain larger growth. Trees in the interior 
bear sooner than on the coast, and ripen their fruit earlier in the 
season. We have almost everything to learn of the adaptation 
of varieties to the different situations, but data of this kind will 
soon be available, through the many importations of the best 
foreign varieties which have been made by different parties dur- 
ing the last few years. 

The olive tree is now thriving in California in a great vari- 
ety of soils. The chief requisites seem to be warmth and good 
drainage. On low, moist lands it has made but indifferent 
growth, while on hill-sides, even where excavations had to be 
made between bowlders, or into disintegrating rock, the tree has 
exhibited thrift and content with the situation. But the conclu- 
sion should not be drawn that the olive needs poor soil. It may 
thrive with loose rock, or bowlders, but it finds among them the 
elements it needs. It is not to be inferred that the olive will 
succeed on sterile soil. 

We have not had experience enough in this State to dem- 
onstrate the influence of soils on the quality of the oil, but oil 
thought to be good has been made from fruit grown on some of 
our best valley fruit soils, deep and naturally well drained, as, 
for example, on Putah Creek, where the tree is said to have at- 
tained a girth of six feet at twenty years from the cutting. 

At present olive planting is proceeding on all kinds of land 
and in all situations. From these plantations our children may 
gain wisdom. 

PROPAGATION OF THE OLIVE. 

Olives are propagated from seed, and from cuttings of vari- 
ous kinds and sizes. The growth from seed is seldom practiced 
in this State, probably for two reasons: First, because the Mis- 
sion olive, which is the only kind that has fruited in this State 
until very recently, produces a small percentage of pits contain- 
ing kernels capable of germination. Second, the growth from 



Propagation of the Olive. 417 

cuttings is easy, and furnishes the variety desired without graft- 
ing. Whether we shall, by growing other varieties, or the same 
variety in other localities, secure fertile seeds and use them for 
propagation, as they do in Europe, the future must determine. 
It would certainly seem that for planting in dry, rocky situa- 
tions, the seedling root would be preferable. 

Growing Olives frOxM Seed.— W. G. Klee gives the follow- 
ing results of his experience with pits while in charge of the 
University propagating houses at Berkeley: — 

The olives should not be planted with the pulp, but must be cleaned of this 
either by letting them rot in a pile or by putting them into an alkaline solution to cut 
the oil. A simple way to hasten germination is to break the pits, taking care not to 
hurt the germ. An instrument similar to the nut-cracker has been invented in France 
which is said to work very well. When the kernels are deprived of their shell ihey are 
steeped in a compost or mixture of cow-dung and sandy soil, and are sown thickly 
in the month of April. If it is thought to be too much work to take the kernel out 
of the pit, they must be soaked in an alkaline solution. We used a solution of one- 
fourth pound of concentrated lye to the gallon of water. Most of the seeds sprouted 
the first year, although there were a few stragglers produced the next year. Planting 
the naked kernels gives the quickest result. Without using this artificial means the 
seeds will remain dormant at least for two years. 

Large Cuttings. — There are two chief methods of prop- 
agating the olives from cuttings now practiced in California. 
One uses well-matured wood, and the other young wood which 
has just passed out of the herbaceous state. Practice with hard 
wood proceeds, in the main, according to the method ernployed 
by Ellw'ood Cooper, and which he describes as follows: — 

The common and preferred method is to plant the cuttings taken from trees of 
sound wood, from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and 
from fourteen to sixteen inches long. These cuttings should be taken from the tree 
during the months of Decemlier and January, neatly trimmed without bruising, and 
carefully trenched in loose, sandy soil. A. shady place is preferred. They should be 
planted in permanent sites from February 20th to March 20th, depending 
upon the season. The ground should be well prepared, and sufficiently dry so that 
there is no mud, and the weather should be warm. In Santa Barbara, near the 
coast, no irrigation is necessary; but very frequent stirring of the top soil with a hoe 
or iron rake for a considerable distance around the cuttings is necessary during the 
spring and summer. About three-fourths of all that are well planted will grow. My 
plan is to set them twenty feet apart each way, and place them in the ground butt 
end down, and at an angle of about forty-five degrees, the top to the north, barely 
covered. Mark the place with a stake. By planting them obliquely, the bottom 
end will be from ten inches to one foot below the surface. 

This method is largely used with the Mission variety, of 
which there is plenty of old wood available. The objection to 
it is that the large cuttings sometimes remain dormant for a 
year or more, and thus gaps are made in the plantation. It is 
Mr. Cooper's practice, however, to start some large cuttings in 
nursery at the same time that he puts others in permanent place, 
and he transplants from nursery to fill vacancies even after the 
27 



4i8 



GroivtJi from Small Cuttings. 



nursery trees attain considerable size, and they are transplanted 
readily if the top is properly reduced. Mr. Cooper removes all 
the lateral branches when transplanting. Planting out large 
cuttings in nursery is done as is described in a previous chapter 
for rooting vine cuttings. 

Small Cuttings. — Propagating by small cuttings has in- 
creased rapidly during the last few years. It serves an excellent 
purpose in rapid multiplication of the new varieties which are 
being secured from abroad; it enables the grower to handle a 




Propagating the Olive by Small Cuttings. 

large number of plants in a small space, and the plants from 
small cuttings have a symmetrical root system quite resembling 
that from a seed. These cuttings are made from very small 



Treatine?it of Truncheons. 419 

shoots and both the tips and the lower cuts are used. The en- 
gravings show small cuttings made by Kenneth McLennan, fore- 
man of the propagating grounds at Berkeley; the figure on the 
left is a tip cutting; the next a cutting lower down the shoot, 
and the figure on the right is a tip cutting as lifted from the 
sand to show its manner of rooting. These figures are about 
natural size, and show clearly how the cuttings are made. The}' 
are placed closely in boxes of sand about four inches deep, and 
after a few months are potted in small pots, or may be reset 
farther apart in boxes of soil or in the open ground. If the 
cuttings are made in January or February, when the wood seems 
to be in the best condition in Berkeley, the trees will be of good 
size for planting in permanent place the next winter. There is 
much difference in the success of different varieties in growth, 
from small cuttings. The Redding Picholine roots very readil)', 
and so do many of the new varieties recently imported. The 
Mission shows a small percentage of success. It is very im- 
portant to take the small cuttings just when the wood is in the 
right condition, not too soft nor too hard. How to determine 
this point cannot be described ; it must be learned by experience. 

Growing Trees from Truncheons. — New varieties se- 
cured from the south of Europe generally come in the shape of 
truncheons, which are long sticks of hard wood. They may be 
planted entire, or be sawn and split into large cuttings (for olive 
cuttings, even in fire-wood shape, will grow if properly treated), 
but the varieties can be most rapidly multiplied by treating the 
truncheons as described by Mr. Klee, as follows: — 

Cut the truncheons in pieces about eighteen inches long, split those pieces in 
two, put the halves so made into the ground horizontally, with the bark side up, cov- 
ering with soil four or five inches deep. Let such bed be in a warm, well-drained 
place, kept moderately moist. In a few months a large number of young shoots will 
break through the ground. When of suitable size and hardness for small cuttings, 
work up these shoots by that method. 

BUDDING THE OLIVE. 

Since a large area of Redding Picholines has been planted, 
and the fruit found different from that anticipated, and as there 
may be other demands for changing over trees into improved 
varieties, much interest has arisen in budding and grafting the 
olive. Mr. Lelong has rendered timely service by expounding 
this subject in his treatise, and the writer is indebted to him for 
the illustrations and descriptions used herewith. 

Budding the Olive. — The method of budding commonly 
employed with fruit trees does not usually yield a high percent- 
age of success with the olive, and other ways have been adopted 
with much better results. 



420 



Tzvig-B lidding the Olive. 



Budding may be performed at 
any time of the year when the 
sap flows freely. If done late in 
the summer the buds lie dormant 
through the winter. Best results 
are obtained when the buds are 
inserted early in the spring, as 
the operation can be performed 
to a much better advantage, and 
the buds will grow to some height 
before winter. When inserted in 
large orchard trees, or in limbs of 
large trees, the shoots from the 
inserted buds are allowed to grow 
until they have attained such a 
size as will justify in the removal 
of the entire top. 




Fig. I. Twig Buds. 

Twig Budding. — The bud is cut dee 
into the wood, in order to give the bud i 
much bark as possible. The leaves ai 
partly cut off, then, with the sharp point < 
the budding-knife, the greatest part of tl 
wood inside of the bud is removed, as show 
in Fig. I, which shows large and small twig 
buds. If part of the wood is not removed 
then the bud cannot take, as the wood in it 
prevents the two barks (the inner bark of 
the bud and the inner bark of the stock) 
from uniting. When the wood has been Fig. 
partly removed from the bud, the bud is in- 
serted into the stock, as budding is done in the regular ordinary 
way, and tied tight. At the end of three weeks the string is 




2. Growth of a 
Twig Bud. 



Plate Bitd ivitJi Bark-Flap. 



421 



removed and part of the top of the stalk is cut back to force the 
bud to start. As the bud grows the foHage of the stalk is grad- 
ually removed, until the bud is able to take up the entire flow of 
sap; it is then left to grow, and trained as shown in Fig. 2, which 
also shows the manner of inserting the bud in the stock. When 
the bud has grown out strongly, what remains of the stock above 
the bud is cut smooth, close to the bud, to allow it to heal over. 

Plate Budding. — An ingenious 
method of plate budding, or inlaying, 
has been successfully followed by 
Charles A. Wetmore, of Livermore, 
President of the Board of State Vit- 
icultural Commissioners. In this 
method the bud is removed as shown 
in Fig. 3. The leaf is cut off close 
to the bud, then the bud is removed, 
as shown in the illustration (the buds 
do not grow where the bud is re- 
moved, as shown in Fig. 3; this is 
only intended to show how the buds 
are removed from the scion). A cut 
is made in the stalk of proper size 
to receive the bud, but the lower 
edge is not cut, but the flap of bark 
is turned down, and the bud inserted, 
as shown in Fig. 4, which gives front 
and side views of the bud in place. 
It does not matter if the buds do not 
fit (the bud should always be a little 
smaller than 
the space in 
which it is in- 
serted). This 
being done, 
the flap of 
bark is turned up, covering the bud en- 
tirely; then it is tied tight with heavy 
twine. The twine for this purpose should 
not be less than eighteen ply. The suc- 
cess of the operation lies in the tying. 
If it should not be tied tight the bud will 
.surely die. Mr. Wetmore found that the best way was to throw 
the twine in water, and tie it while wet. After the bud has been 
inserted two weeks, the string is removed, and a week or .so after 




Fu;. 3. 



Plate Bud. 





Fig. 4. Plate Bud 
IN Place. 



42: 



Bud ivitJi Double Bark-Flap. 




Fig. 5. Growth on a Plate E 



that the tree is girdled above the 
bud, to force it to start. This 
^irdling consists of a ring of bark 
being removed from the stalk, be- 
ing cut an inch or so above the 
bud. Care should be taken not to 
injure (by scraping) the wood after 
the ring is removed, as this would 
kill the inner bark, and cause the 
tree to die back before the bud has 
had a chance to start. After the bud 
has started it is trained to the stalk, 
and left to grow until large enough 
to justify the removing of the en- 
tire top, and allow the bud to 
become the tree. Fig. 5 shows the 
growth on a plate bud inserted and 
trained as described. 

An improved method of insert- 
ing the plate bud is also followed 
by Mr. Wetmore. It consists in 
making a cut into the bark of the 
stalk in the form of a letter H- 
The bark is then turned up and 
down, the bud inserted, and then 
turning the bark down above and 
below protects both ends of the 
inserted plate, while the previous 
method leaves the top 
edge uncovered. Mr. 
Wetmore prefers this 
method, as it also ad- 
mits of the use of 
buds with a bulge at 
the attachment of the 
old leaf, which the 
former method does 
not. This manner of 
inserting a bud is 
shown in Fig. 6. 

Of Mr. Wetmore's 
success in budding, Mr. Lelong 
UD. writes: — 



Fig. 6. Bud 

Covered with 

Two Flaps. 



I saw trees of nearly every size, varying from one to six inches in diameter, that 
had been budded a year and two years. Some of the buds were very large and had 



Grafting the Olive. 



423 




^. 



grown to a height of about four feet, and were in trees that at the time were loaded 
with fruit. Mr. Wetmore intends to allow his trees to bear another year, when the 
buds will take the place of the top; he also expects some of these buds to bear fruit 
the coming season, and I believe they will, because alongside of them were trees 
loaded with fruit that were not as large as the growth of the buds. 

GRAFTING THE OLIVE. 

Gfafting is also used in working over both large and small 
olive trees. Mr. C. E. White, of Pomona, has had good success 
with the ordinary method of top-grafting, as described on page 
116, using scions not larger than a lead-pencil and inserting them 
in April. Grafts of Redding Picholine thus inserted in Mission 
trees are now in bearing. 

Cleft Graft on 
Small Wood. — Fig. 7 
shows a cleft graft made 
with an oblique cut, 
which is superior to a 
split of the stock, be- 
cause on a small stock 
the split is apt to con- 
tinue farther than desir- 
able when the scion is 
pushed in. With the 
slanting cut in the stock 
the scion can be firmly 
pushed into place with- 
out splitting. The union 
of inner barks of scion 
and stock must be made 
on one side when the 
stock is larger than the 
scion. This graft is tied 
in and waxed, or a waxed 
band may be used. In 
working small wood at 
the ground surface, the 
earth should be drawn 
up around the graft. 
This modification of the 
old cleft graft is also de- 
sirable for use on ordi- 
nary fruit trees. 

An In-door Graft. — A method of grafting which suc- 
ceeds very well on srnall wood in the greenhouse, or under frames, 




Cleft Graft for .Small Wood. 



424 



Plant ins: Olive 0)'chard. 



is shown in the engraving, Fig. 8, except that the stock is not 
at first wholly removed, as there shown, but part of its foliage is 
removed to give sap to the scion. The cut is made into the 
side of the stock, with its lower edge cut slanting, and the bot- 
tom of the scion has a slanting surface to match. The scion is 
then pushed closely down so that the proper 
bark contact is made on one side at least, 
and tied and waxed, though the wax is not 
essential if the fit is well made and the at- 
mbsphere not too dry, nor the heat too low. 
Fig. 8 shows such a graft with the tie re- 
moved after the growth has started on the 
scion. When this growth is suflficiently 
under way the old stock is removed by a 
sloping cut, unless it is desired that both 
stock and scion should grow. 

PLANTING THE OLIVE. 

There is nothing gained by planting out 
the olive too early in the spring. Both 
cuttings and rooted plants will do better if 
planted after the soil becomes well warmed, 
and after the heavy rains of the winter are 
well over. Of course the time when this 
condition comes is different from year to 
year, and varies, also, according to locality 
and situation. During the first summer 
the young plants will need occasional 
watering in some situations; in others, 
merely mulching, or keeping the surface 
finely stirred will suffice. 

Olive trees are planted at different dis- 
tances. Mr. Cooper plants twenty feet 
apart in squares. He has had to remove 
every other diagonal row in his fifteen-year- 
old orchard, which leaves the remaining 
trees about twenty-eight feet apart, but he 
is still planting young orchard at twenty 
feet, thinking it more profitable to thin out than to plant fewer 
to the acre. The Kimballs, of National City, plant twenty-five 
feet apart. 

PRUNING THE OLIVE. 

In the pruning of olive trees there is less uniformity of 
method than in the practice among growers of other fruits in 




Fut. 8. Graft for 
In-door Use. 



High and Loiv Pruning. 425 

this State. Mr. Cooper believes in heading high and forming a 
close tree with a main stem. His method is as follows: — 

The cutting will throw up numerous shoots or sprouts, all of which should be 
left to grow the first year; however, where there are two or more vigorous shoots of 
about the same size and height from the same cutting, pinch the tops of all excepting 
the one to be left for the future tree, so as to throw force and vigor into that one. In 
the following spring, when the ground is warm and sufficiently dry, all sprouts except- 
ing the one to be preserved, should be carefully removed, cutting them off close to 
the cutting. The top end of the old cutting should also be removed with a sharp 
saw. A post should be firmly planted, so that the tree can be well secured, to keep 
the trunk straight, and avoid any disturbance of the roots, and should be kept until 
the tree is four or five years old. The lateral branches should be allowed to grow 
until the tree is two or three years old; but in every case when any of said branches 
are rapidly making wood, they should be removed, and not allowed to rob the trunk. 

In the pruning during the first years, have only the one object in view, that is, to 
force all the woody growth into one main trunk. This being done, the tree will nat- 
urally form a beautiful shape. All branches to the height of five and a half feet 
should be removed, so as to admit of close cultivating by horses, but the tree should 
be allowed to grow until eight or ten feet high before these lower branches are removed. 

Some growers do not approve as high heading as practiced 
by Mr. Cooper, which requires a specially arranged wagon for 
gathering the fruit, as will be presently described, but endeavor 
to secure a lower head, at the same time repressing the groveling 
tendency of the tree by checking the shoots which have a down- 
ward tendency. This method resembles, in its main features, 
the training commended by a foreign writer, whose illustrations 
are presented herewith: — 

When the young tree has attained some height, it is the practice to cut ofT the 
top, so that the main stem shall be about four and a half feet in rich soil, or three 
feet in poor soil or in locations exposed to strong winds. Six or eight branches are 
left to form the head. The process of shaping the tree then proceeds, as shown in 
the engravings. Fig. i shows the young tree to be cut oft' at the point marked by 
the dotted line C. .Six branches, three on each side, are left, and the lower twigs 
shortened. Each of the branches left develops, during the year, as the one shown in 
Fig. 2, which is then cut at C again, and the shoots, .'5 and D, are shortened. This 
process starts out the upper shoot, and it appears the following year as A in Fig. 3, 
and it is again cut at C. This causes the two upper shoots to develop, and at the 
end of the year they appear, as shown at BB in Fig. 4. Thus they stand at the 
fourth year's pruning, and each of them is cut at C, and A is shortened and D allowed 
to develop. By this time the tree has a spherical or vase form, and exposes much 
surface to the sun, which is desirable. 

The young branches that spring in the form of a cross on the more vigorous 
branches, bear only wood buds; the others, which are weaker, bear fruit buds on 
their whole length and burst into blossom at the spring of the second year. The 
latter never blossom again in the same place, but the shoot extends itself and forces 
two lateral ones. These new shoots bear the following spring, and so on. It must 
therefore be always borne in mind that the olive bears only on the two-year-old wood. 
If the new shoots are formed every year, the olive will bear annually; but in years of 
good crops, the sap employed to nourish the fruit only produces a number of very di- 
minutive shoots, and the next crop is a short one. The pruning oug'^t to favor the 
growth of young lateral shoots, either by shortening the terminal ones, suppressing 
the "'gormand," or fruitless shoots, or by reducing, in a certain proportion, each year, 
the fruit-bearing shoots, if we wish for a crop every year. The shortening of a 
branch is made immediately above an outside bud in an obli(iue direction, the interior 
one being suppressed. The suckers at the root of the tree should be continually cut ofl. 



426 



Olive in Goblet Form. 



Concerning the time for pruning, the best season is said to be when the winter 
frosts are well over and just before the sap starts in the spring. By early pruning the 
sap is made to act upon the buds unfavorably situated on the tree, brings them out. 
and also develops latent buds on the old wood. Thus one is enabled to prevent the 
tree from becoming covered with naked limbs. 



Fig. I. 



Fig, 4. 




The Vase System of Pruning as Applied to the Olive. 



Gathering Olives for Oil. 42/ 

THE P^RUIT AND ITS CxATHERING. 

The olive tree blooms early in May, and the fruit of the 
Mission variety ripens from November to January, according to 
the season and the locality. The olive bears on two-year-old 
wood. It is usual to count on getting a crop worth picking when 
the tree is four years old from the cutting; some of Mr. Co^jper's 
trees of that age have borne two gallons of olives. In a weigh- 
ing of the crop of an orchard he found he had gathered an av- 
erage of one hundred and twenty-two pounds from trees seven 
years from the cutting. 

Mr. Cooper's method of gathering olives for oil-making is 
described as follows: — 

The fruit should be gathered as soon as it turns purple, and before fully ripe, as 
the oil will be lighter in color and more fragrant, but somewhat less in quantity. I 
have arranged on a ranch wagon platforms with ladders securely fastened, so that the 
fruit from even large trees can be gathered from the wagon, which is driven along the 
rows, and one-half of the trees picked from each side. This plan obviates the ne- 
cessity of moving ladders, climbing, etc., and relieves the pickers from the labor of 
carrying the fruit, as the sacks containing the same are always at hand on the platform. 
The pickers have a contrivance which is buckled around the body and clasped 
around the neck. It makes a receptacle in front into which the olives are gathered 
rapidly by using both hands for picking. The leaves and imperfect berries are sepa- 
rated by passing the whole through a winnowing mill. This process leaves the fruit 
in the best possible condition, preparatory to manufacturing the oil, 

THE MANUFACTURE OF OLIVE OIL. 

Olive oil is made in this State by the European method, 
though we have as yet but very simple establishments, and, as a 
rule, make only one, and at most but two, pressings of the pom- 
ace, which is then used for fattening swine. In the frequent 
working over of the pomace, and the close extraction of the oil, 
as practiced in Europe, we haN^e done nothing as yet. 

Olive oil is made on a small scale by a number of parties 
who use home-made contrivances, or small, portable cider ma- 
chinery, for the crushing and pressing. There are three estab- 
lishments which rise to the dignity of " mills:" Frank A. Kim- 
ball's, at National City, San Diego County; Ellwood Cooper's, 
at Santa Barbara, and E. Goodrich's, at Los Gatos, Santa Clara 
County. 

Drying. — Unless the olives are left on the tree until shriv- 
eled (which is not a good practice), the berries need drying be- 
fore being crushed for oil. This drying may be done in the sun, 
and, probably, will be thus accomplished in the interior, if olive 
oil making should extend thereto. Mr. Kimball dries his olives 
by spreading them out on the floor of the second story of his 
large brick oil-mill, and finds that it takes about two weeks to 



428 



Cnishinsr and Pressins:. 



dry them. Mr. Cooper dries the oHves in an artificial drier, at 
a temperature not exceeJing 130° Fahr., drying them sufficiently 
in twenty-four hours. He has his drier of the same daily capac- 
ity as hs mill, and regulates his picking so that just about the 
requisite amount of fruit is gathered. 

Crushing. — The olives are crushed by heavy stone rollers 
revolving in a circular depression in a bed of masonry into which 
the fruit is placed. The principle is the same as in the foreign 
crusher, of which an engraving is given. Mr. Kimball uses a 
stone about six feet in diameter and with about a foot face. 




Ax Itali.a.i\ Olive C)il Mill. 

Mr. Cooper formerly used a stone, but has substituted two iron 
crushers, one following the other over the fruit. Mr. Kimball 
works his crusher and his presses by steam power; Mr. Cooper 
uses horse-power, and has the apparatus so geared that the horse 
works outside the building, which is an advantage in point of 
cleanliness and otherwise. 

Pressing. — When the revolving crusher has reduced the 
olives to a mass, which Mr. Cooper aptly describes as resem- 
bling blackberry jam in its appearance, the pomace is shoveled 
up from the bed of the mill and prepared for pressing. Instead 
of the fabric of woven esparto grass which is used abroad, Mr. 
Cooper uses coarse linen cloth. A certain amount of the pulp 
is put in each cloth, so that when the cloth is folded back it 
makes a cheese about three feet square, and three inches thick. 



Settling and Clarifying. 



429 



Ten or more of these cheeses are placed one above the other, 
with slats between, and the pressure applied gently. Mr. Cooper 
uses an old-fashioned cider press wth a beam twenty-six feet 
long, which, when weighted with rocks at its outer end, exerts a 
heavy pressure on the pomace. Screw presses are more conven- 
ient and require less space. Mr. Kimball uses screw presses, 
operating them by steam power. The engraving of an Italian 
oil press will give a general idea of the way the pomace is ar- 
ranged for pressing. Modifications of press appliances have 
been made in this State. 




Olive Oil Press, .Showing Mode of Filling. 

Settling and Clarifying. — The liquid from the press is 
dark colored, and it is conducted into a receptacle for settling. 
Much of the foreign matter quickly separates, the oil appearing 
on the top. The oil is removed to other receptacles in which it 
can stand from two to five months for perfect separation of un- 
desirable sediment. Mr. Kimball allows his oil to stand in gal- 
vanized iron tanks. Mr. Goodrich has a stone tank made of 
marble slabs. It is requisite that a receptacle should be used 
which will not impart flavors to the oil. 

After the long standing described, the oil is filtered before 
bottling. Mr. Cooper uses cylindrical tin vessels holding about 
three gallons each, one fitting in the other in tiers of three, with 
fine wire sieves in the bottom of each. On these sieves he places 
two or three layers of cotton batting. The oil is passed from 
one tier to the other until clear. Mr. Kimball uses a filter made 
of a layer of hair-cloth, over that a felt cloth brought from Italy, 
and over that a thick layer of cotton and linen fiber. 



430 Pickling the Olive. 

This completes the oil makincr. It is a simple process, and 
may be carried on at home with rude devices. It is, however, a 
process requiring care and cleanliness, and intelligent personal 
attention. 

Cost of an Oil Outfit. — There is, of course, wide vari- 
ation in the cost of an oil-mill, and there is a disposition now to 
make considerable investment in buildings and appliances. The 
beginner will find it interesting to know what Mr. Cooper gives 
as an estimate of the cost of such an outfit as he used success- 
fully for a number of years. It is as follows: Olive drier, $150; 
mill, $250; two presses, $500; two tanks, $200; filters, $50 ; 
corker and tinfoiler, $50; wooden building, $400. Total, $1,600. 

PICKLING THE OLIVE. 

There is a multitude of recipes for preparing the olive for 
table use. They differ in the main in the use of alkali for re- 
moving the bitterness, or trusting to soaking in fresh water to 
remove it. Mr. Cooper relies upon the latter method, which he 
describes as follows: — 

If it is desired to have ripe olives pickled, they should be gathered when of pur- 
ple color. They must be picked and handled with great care. We pick them in 
water; that is, pick them and drop them in water, so they won't be bruised, and we 
take into the held a tub with water in it and the pickers empty into that, so that 
there cannot be any bruising. Even in pickling them we handle them in water, and 
we aim when we are changing the water to get the olives that are in the bottom one 
day on top the next, changing the. water every day, and in that way you will not find 
one that is imperfect. After changing the water every day for thirty or forty days, 
according to the ripeness of the olive, we make a mild brine of the best Liverpool 
salt, about half as strong as would bear an egg, and leave it in that brine two or 
three days. Afterwards take the olives out of that brine and wash them in cold 
water. Then we make a brine that will just about bear an egg, boiling the brine, 
and in that keep them for an indefinite period. I have kept them three years, and 
every olive that comes on the table is just as perfect, just as full, as when picked from 
the tree. 

Frank A. Kimball, of San Diego, who has the reputation of 
preparing as good olives as are marketed in California, uses the 
following method: — 

Carefully pick the olives, keeping those of same color together— all green, all 
red, or turning red, or black— put them in a vessel which is absolutely free from any 
taste or smell. Take of American concentrated lye two ounces for every gallon of 
olives; dissolve the lye in clean water sufficient to cover the olives (it is best to boil 
and skim it); then pour the lye over the olives. I prefer to have it cold. Be sure 
every olive is covered with the lye. Don't let one come to the top of the water. 
Stir them occasionally — say two or three times in twenty-four hours; then taste them 
and see if any bitterness is left — if so, let them remain twelve hours longer. If then 
bitter, pour oft' lye and repeat with half the quantity of lye, and when no bitterness 
is left,' pour off the lye and replace with fresh water, changing it two or three times 
each day, and in two or three days the lye is all out and they are ready for salt, and 
this is all governed by taste. If you get them too salt they are easily freshened as 



The Mission Olive. 



431 



hey are required for use. Black or ripe olives re(|uire a large amount of salt to keep 
them. Do not fail to keep every olive under the brine. The best test for lye, when 
washing the olives before salting, is litmus paper dipped in the water. This will de- 

ect the slightest particle of lye. 

VARIETIES OF THE OLIVE (]ROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

In view of the large collections of choice olives brought to 
California during the last few years from the different olive- 
growing countries of Southern Europe, it may be inferred that 
we are now well supplied with the best sorts, but how rich is our 
possession, and how well the varieties will suit California condi- 
tions, is not yet known, as cornparatively few of the importations 
have borne fruit. Much will be learned in this direction during 
the next few years. It is interesting, however, to show the olives 
now most widely grown in this State, and some of the lately in- 
troduced kinds which have fruited here. For the illustrations 
used in this connection, and for the greater part of the descrip- 
t ive matter, indebtedness is acknowledged to the publication by 
Mr. Lelong, Secretary of the State Board of Horticulture. In 
the office of the State Board, at 220 Sutter Street, San Fran- 
cisco, a large collection of olive varieties can be seen, as well as 
much other inaterial of interest and value to the horticulturist. 




The Mission Olive. — By this name is signified the variety found growing 
at the old missions in California. Samples of the fruit and leaves sent by F. 
Pohndorff to Don Jose de Hidalgo Toblada, a noted Spanish authority on the olive, 
led to the classing of our mission varieties with the Cornicabra-Cornizuelo 



432 



False and True Pic/ioliiie. 




The True Picholine. 



varieties of Spain, and its value 
was contirmed.* It has long 
been known that the so-called 
-Mission olive embraced several 
varieties, or sub-varieties at 
least. Mr. Lelong says: "There 
are several 'types' of what is 
known to be the 'Mission' olive. 
Different types are found in al- 
most every old orchard in the 
State. At the Mission San Jose, 
Mr. J. Rock and I discovered 
seven types in the Mission Or- 
chard; some are early and some 
late; some are long and pointed, 
while others are round. At this 
place we discovered a tree that 
is different from any I have seen. 
The fruit is of extra large size, 
and very early. The tree is also 
tlifferent from any other Mission 
tree; it has a weeping habit, re- 
sembling a willow, having a 
willow-like leaf. Alongside of 
this tree were several other trees 
of the same age; the trunk of 
one of them measured five feet 
four and three-quarters inches 
in circumference, at about four 
feet from the ground. All these 
trees receive the same care, and 
are on the same kind of soil."' 
The Mission varieties are the 
only ones from which any com- 
mercial product has been thus 
far derived in this State. It is 
excellent both for oil and pickles. 



The Reddi.ng Picholine. — This 
variety was introduced by the late B. B. 
Redding, but his deeply regretted death 
occurred before the trees bore fruit. It 
was known at first simply as the Picho- 
line — the variety which Mr. Redding 
intended to secure, but it proves to be 
quite different from the Picholine type. 
It is the most widely distributed variety 
in the State, next to the Mission, and 
must now be classed as an undetermined 
variety. As the fruit is very small, the 
trees, which are excellent growers, are 
being worked over into larger varieties, 
for which it will probably prove an ex- 
cellent stock. 

Picholine. — A variety believed to 
be the true Picholine is now fruiting at 
several places in this State under the 
name Oblonga, which is one of itssyn- 



*.4 fuller statement in Pacific Rural Press, April 4, i5 



^^ 




KKARIXt, IJAII-: r.VLM ul- 1. K. W ULI'SKILL.— See Paee :;q6. 



Improved Olives Fruiting in California. 



433 



onyms. It is described by a leading French authority as a very delicate olive, some- 
times used for oil, but chiefly for pickling. 

OTHER VARIETIES FRUITING IN CALIFORNIA. 

The adjacent illustrations represent 
other imported varieties which have begun 
to bear fruit in this State. Probably the 
largest collection of these new-comers is 
that of John Rock, of San Jose, from 
whose fruit most of the engravings were 
made. The names and localities of other 
growers, mainly as given by Mr. Lelong, 
are mentioned below. 

Pendoulier.— At Vacaville this vari- 
ety is growing in the orchard of Mr. A. 
Montpellier. Mr. Montpellier imported 
his trees from Italy in 1885. They have 
been planted three years; one of the trees 
bore fruit for the first time in 1887. This 
year all bore fruit (five trees), excepting 
one that has not received any irrigation. 
The fruit ripened in the first part of Octo- 
ber. At Sonoma this variety is growing 
in the orchard of Mr. L. P. Rixford, who 
imported his trees from France some ten 
years ago. The trees four years after 
planting bore fruit in great numbers, and 
have continued to bear good and regular 
crops every year; they ripen at Sonoma 
in November. Mr. George E. Ladd, of 
Atwater, Merced County, has also a few 
trees which bore fruit in 1888 for 
the first time. They ripen there 
about the same time as at Vacaville. 

Manzanillo. — This variety is 
now widely distributed, having been 
sent out by the State University in 
considerable numbers. The fruit 
is of large size, of irregular orange 
shape; brilliant purple, changing 
when mature to deep blue black, 
with very minute white specks; pit 
of a peculiar shape; an early vari- 
ety. Specimens of it were obtained 
early in October. At the orchard 
of Don Juan Gallegos, at the Mis- 
sion San Jose, several large trees 
were loaded with fruit in 1888. 
From all appearances the tree is a 
rapid grower and a prolific bearer; 
the fruit being large makes it easy 
of handling. Mr. Geo. E. Ladd, 
of Atwater, has also a few trees 
which bore fruit in 1888, maturing 
Manzanillo. there much sooner than at the Mis- 

sion San Jose. Dr. J. M. Stewart, 
of Santa Cruz, has several trees in bearing. There are also a few trees in bearing at 
San Jose, Niles, and at .Santa Barbara. This olive is excellent for pickling and for oil. 




434 



Improved Olives Fiiiiting in California. 



RuiiRA.— This is a remarkable variety; fruit medium small, but bears heavy 
and regular crops. This olive is best suited for oil, but is also used for pickling. 
Large trees of this variety are in full bearing in the orchard of Mr. John Rock, at San 
Jose, the limbs very thickly covered with fruit; in fact, a wonder that the trees were 
able to hold the weight without being propped. At Livermore, in the orchard of 
Mr. Chas. A. Wetmore, are trees of this variety in fruit, the trees only having been 
planted two years. This tree begins to fruit quite young, and is a prolific bearer. 




Columella. 



UVARIA. 

UVARIA — This is a valuable olive, both for 
pickles and for oil; fruit hangs in large clus- 
ters, of a bluish-black grape color, resembling 

a cluster of grapes; as many as fifteen large ripe berries on a cluster; ripens in November; 
a rapid grower and a very prolific bearer. This olive is now fruiting in San Jose, 
Niles, and Saratoga. 



Improved Olives Fruiting in California. 



435 



PeNDULINA. — A handsome tree and a good bearer; fruit medium to large; 
ripens earl)'. The fruit is said to produce a fine grade of oil. It is used for pickling 
considerably, both in its ripe and green state. In iSSS the fruit ripened in the latter 
part of October. This variety is found growing in several parts of Livermore Valley, 
Santa Cruz, San Jose, Niles, and Mission San Jose. 

Columella. — .A. most valuable acquisition, because of its productiveness and 
fruit of superior quality. The weight of the fruit generally brings the branches to 
the ground, unless they be propped. The fruit is of a very clear yellow color before 
maturity, therefore most valuable for a pickling olive. The tree is a rapid grower, of 
medium dimensions, stocky, and well able to support the weight of the fruit. This 
variety is found growing in Livermore, San Jose, Niles, and Saratoga. The fruit 
through the months of Xovembir and December retains its yellowish color, then 
changes to wine red, and when mature to blue-black. 




LUC(1UES. 



Mackocari'a. 



Saillern. ■ Fruited under its synonym atro-rubciis: described in France as a 
delicate tree, rather sensitive to^cold, but the fruit highly esteemed for oil. 



436 



Improved Olives Fruiting in California. 



ROUGET, — Fruited under its sjtionym cayoine; a hardy variety, adapted to poor 
land; yields a fair oil, but mostly used for pickles. 

Verdale. — Fruiting in several parts of this State. At Saratoga it is in bearing 
on very steep side-hills, so steep that they can hardly be cultivated. The trees in 
1888 were full of fruit and doing well. The French describe the tree as rather sen- 
sitive to cold; very early; not adapted to poor soil, nor for oil making, but fine 
for pickling green. 




Atro-Vialacea. 



Oliviere. 



Oliviere. — A very hardy and long-lived variety; widely grown in Languedoc 
for its oil. 



A Prophecy on the Olive. 



437 



LUCQUES. — A variety specially adapted for pickling, though producing oil of 
good quality; now fruiting with C. A. Wetmore, of Livermore. 

PiGALE. — A late variety, commended in France to prolong the picking season; 
adapted for pickling and oil making. 

Macrocarpa. — A very large-fruited variety, and early; only grown for pickling. 

Atro-Vialacea. — A vigorous and productive variety, commended both for oil 
and pickles. 



^^Zr(^ 




A California Olive Tkef,— A. 1). .-5 o. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE ORANGE. 

The orange has held a leading place among California 
fruits ever since the American occupation, and at present is at- 
tracting wider attention than ever before. Its position as a 
commercial fruit has been attained in Southern California — the 
three counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego 
being the only counties which have thus far produced more 
than enough to supply home requirements, and only one or two 
other counties have done even that. In 1888 the shipments to 
near and distant markets from these three counties reached about 
two thousand two hundred and fifty car loads. The assessor's 
returns for the year 1886 showed the existence of about a million 
orange trees in the State, of which the counties named were 
credited with about ninety-five per cent. And yet the orange 
tree has demonstrated its success in many other parts of the 
State by decades of thrift and fruit bearing. 

Recently the orange has been put forward prominently as 
the exponent of climate. The natural desire of all sections 
which can claim the possession of semi-tropical weather condi- 
tions, to demonstrate their claims, has resulted in local displays 
of citrus fruits at which creditable oranges have been shown from 
trees situated as far north as Shasta County. The explanation 
of this fact is to be found in the statements made concerning 
the climates of California, and their effects upon the growth and 
ripening of fruits, in Chapter I, and need not be repeated in 
this connection. 

Both the old and the new notions which the public has in- 
dulged in, as to the adaptation of the State for the growth of the 
orange, are wrong. To conclude from the commercial suprem- 
acy of the southern counties in orange production, that all the 
southern country is fitted for the growth of this fruit, and that more 
northerly counties are not; or to decide from recent fruit exhibits 
that all the North is thus endowed, are both incorrect and mis- 
leading. Certain southern situations have been proved to be un- 
suited for profitable orange production, and certain northern sit- 

(438) 



Extension of the Orange Interest. 439 

uations are also unfit. The limitations at the South are quite 
well understood because of the greater attention which has been 
paid to this fruit; the limitations at the North are very likely to 
be soon learned, because of the general planting which has been 
done during the last few j-ears. With all trees to be had in 
Southern California nurseries, and all that were brought from 
Florida, the demand for planting in the spring of 1888 could not 
be supplied. There will be a vast growth in the orange product 
both North and South, and, fortunately, the success which the 
oranges of California are achieving in distant markets gives 
promise of adequate rewards for well-directed enterprises. The 
premiums won by California oranges at the New Orleans 
World's Fair* gave us a name at the East, and shipments to 
Eastern cities since that time have been very profitable. The 
fact that the California oranges reach the Eastern markets after 
the Florida product has been disposed of, is of advantage to 
both States. 

Though the California literature of the orange, aside from 
the newspaper and the magazine, is not large, it includes several 
excellent contributions by well-informed writers, to which the 
reader is referred .i* 

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE ORANGE. 

Though it is acknowledged to be impossible to speak geo 
graphically concerning the success of the orange, there are a 
few generalizations concerning suitable conditions which may 
assist the planter in choosing locations. 

It has already been stated (page 21) that the lowest tem- 
perature reached in our fruit districts since American occupation, 
which was in January, 1888, did not, as a rule, seriously injure 
mature wood of the orange, but it should be pointed out that in- 
jury to mature wood is wrought much below the limit of safety 
to the product. The fruit is very liable to injury at a slight 
drop below the freezing point, and where such temperature is 
reached every winter, the orange tree would be little more than 



^Premiums awarded in competition with outside region^ were as follows: Best collection not 
less than twenty varieties from any State or foreign country, Riverside Fruit Co.; best collection ten 
varieties, do., do., Kimball Bios., National City; best plate any variety, do., do., Kimball Bros: best 
collection from any State, Riverside Fruit Co — and a large number of individual rewards. See Re- 
port American Horticultural Society, Vol. Ill, page 221. 

t" Orange Culture in California," by Thomas A. Garey, published by Dewej' & Co., of San 
Francisco, 1882; i2mo. , 227 pages. 

" The Orange: ist Culture in California," byW. A. Spauld'ng, published by Press and Horticuliiir- 
?j^. Riverside, iS'Bs; large 8vo., 97 pages. 

".\ Treatise on Citrus Culture in California," etc., by B. ^t. Lelong, secretary .St.ite Board Hor- 
ticulture, published by the State; 1888. 8vo., 96 pages. 

Essays by James Betti er. T. A. Garey, ^I. Baldridge, A. S. Chapman, L. M. Holt, J. W. Sallee, 
and O. P. Chubb, in Report State Board Horticulture, 1886 and 1888; published by the State. 



440 Situations and Soils for tJic Orange. 

ornamental. Even in our best orange regions there is occasional 
injury to the fruit and to young trees, and apprehension is felt 
as the frost season approaches, but this, of course, is the case in 
many other orange regions of the world. 

Situations not far distant from each other often differ greatly 
in suitability for the orange, the chief elements of the variation 
being elevation, exposure, and soil. The following statement by 
J. W. Sallee, of Pomona, Los Angeles County, presents conclu- 
sions after much observation at the South: — 

The soil should be a deep, rich alluvium, formed from granite and limestone. 
A hard-pan subsoil should be avoided, while strata of sand and gravel are very ob- 
jectionable. A red subsoil — commonly called clay in California — formed from dis- 
integrated granite, well rotted, is best. A black or adobe subsoil is not good. The 
subsoil should be fine, but of a nature to allow water to pass freely through it. It 
should be deep and rich, with water not less than thirty feet from the surface. The 
surface soil should be of a sandy nature, so as not to bake after irrigation. Coarse 
sand and gravel are not objectionable on the surface, provided the subsoil is all right. 
A sediment surface is good; in fact any kind of soil easily pulverized. The surface 
of the country should have a southern exposure, and-, better still, to be backed on the 
north by high hills, and should be comparatively free from winds and frost. The 
hotter the locality the better. An altitude from eight hundred to one thousand and six 
hundred feet is best. Besureto haveanabundance of water that can be relied upon for 
irrigation — at least one inch to every five acres of orange orchard. More will be 
needed when the orchard grows old.* 

The elements entering into suitability of soil and situation 
at the North are sketched by Dr. John Strentzel, who has been 
^n orange grower in Contra Costa County since 1853, as follows : 

It is now demonstrated that oranges are grown all over California, still it does 
not follow that this child of a tropical climate can withstand the eiTtetts of uncon- 
genial soil and the occasional rigors of a northerly climate, thus depriving it of food 
and shelter. To succeed, great care is required in selecting the location for an or- 
ange grove. Former observation is necessary to indicate the spot exempt from hard 
freezing; a few feet of elevation above the surrounding surface, or a few feet to the 
right or left side of prevailing currents, and the shelter of a grove of trees, make a vast 
difference in the climatic peculiarities of a given location. One must secure a rich, 
deep, mellow soil, free from stagnant water; also plenty of water for irrigation during 
the dry season. The orange tree requires copious watering during the dry season. 
It is a surface feeder. The numerous rootlets spread in the ground forming a spongy 
mass of fibers, which exhaust moisture rapidl}'. The curling and wilting of the leaves 
denote a deficiency of moisture, which causes also shrinknge of the fruit. 

These are presented as ideals in the selection of situation 
and support for orange trees. Of course there are trees growing 
and bearing fruit in places and upon soils quite otherwise than 
as described; and in family orchards, where conditions do not 
absolutely preclude fruitage, the orange should find a place. In 
selecting location for extended commercial planting, however, 
the very best situation should be diligently sought for. The 
provision of irrigating facilities is governed by the conditions 

'Prize essay in Pacijic Rural Press, August i, 1885. 



Se airing Orange Seed. 441 

noted in Chapter XV. In certain places good fruit has been 
produced without irrigation, but in situations otherwise best 
suited to the fruit, bearing trees will in all probability require 
water. 

PROPAGATION OF THE ORANGE. 

The orange is grown from cuttings, layers, and seeds. 
Growth from the seed is the method almost exclusively followed, 
and by far the. best, but the others will be mentioned briefly. 

Growth FRO^r Cuttings. — This method of propagation 
is described on page loi. 

Growth from Layers. — The orange roots readily by 
layering, the drooping branches being partly cut through, 
buried in the soil with the terminal shoot ab^ve-ground. Lay- 
ers must be kept moist. Layering may be employed to obtain 
a few plants easily, but, otherwise, it cuts no figure in propaga- 
tion. Layers and cuttings, of course, reproduce the original 
variety without recourse to budding. 

Growth from Seed. — Good plump seed selected from 
home-grown fruit may be used in growing orange seedlings 
either for their own fruiting or to use as stocks for budding; 
but there is danger, when seedlings for fruit are grown from such 
seed, that some results of cross-fertilization with the lemon, lime, 
or other citrus species, may appear in the fruit. Of course, if 
one gathers his own seed from a choice variety in a situation 
where other citrus species are not grown, his chances for good 
seedlings are greater, but the orange cannot be trusted to come 
true from seed. 

The seed chiefly used in this State is obtained from Tahiti 
oranges. On arrival at this port, the fruit is picked over and 
the decayed fruit can be cheaply bougl-t by the barrel from the 
receivers. When thoroughly decayed the fruit is pulped by 
mashing in the barrel, and the mass is washed, a little at a time, 
on a coarse sieve, the pulp passing through, and the seed being 
caught on the wires, and pieces of skin thrown out. The plump 
seed will sink if thrown into water, and the imperfect can be 
skimmed from the top. The seed should never be allowed to 
dry, and unless it is to be sown at once, should be stored by 
mixing with moist sand, from which it can be afterwards removed 
by sifting. 

Orange seedlings are grown either in boxes, or in the open 
ground. In either case a rich sandy loam which will not bake 
should be secured or artifically made by mixing sand with rich 



442 Grozving Orange Seedlings. 

garden loam. Boxes of about two square feet area and six 
inches deep are convenient to handle. The bottom should have 
holes, or sufficient crevices for good drainage. Fill the boxes 
about four inches with the prepared soil, place the seeds about an 
inch and a half apart each way, and sift over them about an inch 
of the soil, or a little less of the soil and a layer of clear sand if 
it is at hand. It is essential that the soil should be kept moist, 
and light sprinkling daily or each other day with water that 
has been warmed by standing in the sun, is desirable. Seed 
can be sown in boxes in the house at any time, if plenty of light 
and heat are given. If the boxes are to be out-of-doors, it is 
best to sow in the spring and to rig up a cover of cheap cotton 
cloth, suspended about a foot above the surface, to prevent ef- 
fect of frost at night, and of burning by sun heat by day. The 
seedlings usually appear in about six weeks, and with good care 
in weeding, and keeping sufficiently, but not excessively, moist, 
they will make a growth of about a foot the first season. Some 
growers collect the boxes in a sheltered place, and build over 
them a lath house, tacking on old sacks or other cloth, to shield 
from sun and frost. The lath house keeps animals from running 
over the boxes, etc. 

Growing seedlings in an open bed involves about the same 
operations. To guard against intrusion it is advisable to make 
board sides to the bed about a foot high, and to make lath 
frames which will reach across, resting on the edge boards. A 
cloth sun and frost shade is also desirable, to be laid over the 
lath frames when it seems needed. Mr. Miles, of Placer County, 
has devised an adjustable cloth shade, which is shown in the en- 
graving on the following page. 

Beds should be made narrow enough so that one can easily 
reach half way across from each of the long sides for weeding, 
etc. In open seed beds it is usual to sow the seed broadcast. 
Mr. Lelong advises flooring the bed with boards to exclude 
moles, filling it with soil, so that the open bed becomes really a 
large, shallow box. 

Planting out in nursery is usually done after the ground is 
thoroughly warmed in the spring, and the seedlings are then about 
a year old. The preparation of nursery ground and the plant- 
ing out of the seedlings can be done as described in Chapter 
VIII. Orange seedlings should, however, be given greater dis- 
tance apart than is usual for deciduous trees, because the orange 
remains longer in nursery, and because it is often desirable, 
when taking up, to sack the ball of earth embracing the roots. 
If the roots are not to be sacked, about nine inches will do be- 
tween the plants; if to be sacked, the distance should be twice as 



TJie Orange Nursery. 443 

great. In taking the seedlings, a {q.\v should be lifted at a time 
and their roots kept shaded and moist until the ground closes 
on them in the nursery row. To get an even stand in the nur- 
sery, the small and weak plants should be placed by themselves, 
or set in boxes to take another year before going into nursery. 

Young trees in nursery are very liable to frost injury, and it 
is wise to protect them by some sort of a cover during the winter. 
A frame-work covered with cypress brush is often used, the 
whole being cleared away in the spring, to allow of summer cul- 
tivation. Cultivation of trees in nursery is about the same as 
with deciduous fruit trees. The horse should be used, and the 
surface kept perfectly pulverized. The cultivator should follow 
irrigation as soon as the soil will admit of it. Frequency of ir- 
rigation of nursery depends, of course, upon local conditions. 
Some give two or three irrigations, by running the water in a lit- 
tle trench alongside the rows, at intervals of two weeks and 
then irrigate once a month during the summer. It is important 
that irrigation should not be continued too late into the fall, be- 
cause the young tree should harden its wood before cold weather. 

Nor is it desirable that the growth 
be too rapid. A good growth of 
sound wood is better than extra 
size. 

Length of Time in Nursery. 

— Seedlings are usually budded 

after being one year in the nursery, 

or at two years from the planting 

of the seed. At a convenient 

time in the winter the lower shoots 

and thorns are removed from the 
Adjustable Shade FOR Seed-bed. ,,. ^ , , 

seedlmgs, so as to leave a clear 

stem of about six inches, for the convenience of the budder. 
BUDDING THE ORANGE. 

After years of experience and many losses and disappoint- 
ments through trial of the Chinese lemon and other stocks, the 
firm conclusion has been reached that only the orange root is 
suitable for the orange tree. Orange roots are usuall}' obtained 
as has just been described, but recently the sour stock of Florida 
has been brought in in large quantities, both as seedlings and as 
seed for local growth of stocks. Results thus far promise well. 
The many Japanese varieties now being imported are worked on 
the Citrus trifoliata, a dwarfing stock. 

Budding is almost exclusively adopted in working in de- 




444 



Budding the Orange. 



sirable varieties. The best time to bud is about the time the 
new growth starts on the seedling in the spring, though some 
practice budding in midsummer and fall, Good, well-watered 
buds only should be used; those from both base and tip of the 
shoots are frequently defective. The method of budding de- 
scribed on pages 105 and 106 is that usually employed in bud- 
ding citrus trees, and the rules for loosening the ligature, etc., 
are similar. Midsummer buds are apt to have soft growth at the 
coming of cold weather; fall buds remain dormant until spring; 
spring buds start to grow almost immediately and have the 
benefit of the whole summer season for growth and maturing of 
wood. 

After the bud has started out well the top of the stock 
should be removed at a short distance above the bud, and suck- 
ers should also be repressed. The tender shoot of the bud is 
protected by tying to the stub as shown in the engraving (from 
Lelong) and when the growth of the bud has become strong 
enou;^h to support itself the old stock is smoothly sawn away at 
the line O, and the wound covered with shellac, liquid grafting 
wax, or paint. 

The care of the budded trees in nursery is similar to that of 
the seedlings of the previous year. If too great a tendency to 
branch low down is observed, the tips of the lower shoots should 
be pinched, but it is not desirable to under-prune 
much; the retention of the lower branches thickens 
the stem. Sometimes a very rank growth on the bud 
will need a stake to strengthen it or protect it from 
blowing out. The intrusion of gophers and other ver- 
min should be resolutel)' and persistently guarded 
against. 

Working Over Old 
Trees. — Old orange trees can 
be transformed into improved 
varieties either by budding or 
grafting, as described on pages 
1 1 5 and 1 16, though re-working 
by grafting has been almost entirely 
superseded by budding. The common 
way to bud over an old tree is to cut 
back part of the branches and force out 
new shoots, the best of which are selected 
for budding and the others removed. Only a part of the tree 
is removed at first, and when the new buds have grown out on 
that the other part is similarly treated. Mr. Lelong describes 
his method of budding into old bark, thus preventing the 





Cutting a Bud with 
A Thorn. 



The Orange Orchard. 445 

sacrifice of time and fruit by cutting away the old wood and 
waiting for the new to grow. His method consists in selecting 
the largest buds and in taking them from the branch with an inch 
length of bark, also cutting well into the center, thus removing a 
considerable amount of wood with the bark. If it is a thornless 
variety the piece of wood can be easily lifted out from the bark, and 
thelatterwiththebud isthcn inserted under theoldbarkof the stock 
in the usual manner of budding. If the variety has thorns, a bud 
having a large thorn is chosen and the wood carefully removed 
with the budding-knife, leaving a little wood in the bud to hold 
the thorn, as shown at "A" in the engraving on the preceding page. 
The bud is then placed under the thick bark as described. These 
large buds in old bark need careful tying with twine, and the 
ligature has to be retained longer than with young bark, because 
of the tendency of the old bark to draw back. The tie should, 
however, be loosened and re-tied so as to prevent cutting into 
the bark. The starting of the buds is promoted by ringing or 
girdling the stock about an inch above them. The old branches 
are left on the tree for some time to shade it, until the bud at- 
tains considerable growth, when all may be cut away but the 
bud growths, which will constitute a new head for the tree. All 
wounds made in removing the old branches should be carefully 
painted over. Budding in old trees is best done in the spring 
when the sap flow is strong, but can be done in the fall and the 
bud allowed to lie dormant until spring. 

PLANTING ORANGES IN ORCHARD. 

As already stated, orange trees are planted out at greater 
age than deciduous fruit trees. Budded trees are given one or 
two years' growth in nursery and one or two years' growth on 
the bud, which, added to the year in the seed-bed, makes them 
three to four years of age from the sowing of the seed. Seed- 
lings, to be planted out as such, are allowed two years' growth in 
the nursery, which makes them three years old from the seed. For 
this length of time and the unusual care involved in their growth, 
taking up from nursery and preparation for carriage, orange 
trees of planting age are sold high, seedlings being rated not less 
than 50 cents each, and the best budded varieties at $2.00 each, 
and in times of great demand the price goes higher. 

Preparation of land for orange planting by deep and 
thorough cultivation and laying off to secure straight rows by 
the square, quincunx, and hexagonal methods have been quite 
fully discussed in Chapter X, and Chapter XI has suggestions for 
planting, many of which are applicable to the setting of orange 
trees. There are, however, special methods employed in lifting 



446 Careful Handling of You7ig Trees. 

the orange trees from the nursery rows and in placing them in 
permanent position, which will be outlined. 

The orange, in common with other evergreen trees, is ex- 
ceedingl)' sensitive to exposure of its roots, and for this reason 
the handling of the young trees is very different from that of or- 
dinary orchard trees. Three ways are employed for securing 
this constant moisture of the roots, as follows : — 

Packing in Wet Straw. — As fast as the trees are lifted 
from the nursery ground b}' digging carefully so as to loosen and 
secure all the roots possible, they are packed in damp and par- 
tially rotten straw, proper receptacles being at hand so that the 
roots are not exposed by carrying them any distance. In taking 
up, all roots bruised by the spade are cleanly cut with a sharp 
knife. The tap-root is cut away at a depth of a foot or so from 
the surface. This use of wet straw if faithfully carried out will 
answer well in taking trees short distances for planting, but the 
use of a puddle on the roots before packing in damp straw gives 
additional assurance of success. 

Puddling the Roots. — This method is also used for de- 
ciduous fruit trees, as mentioned on page 143. It consists in 
having a thin pudding of loamy soil, with preponderence of sand 
rather than of clay, into which the roots are dipped as soon as 
the tree is lifted from the nursery. This mixture, which should 
be about as thick as cream, may be made in a hole in the ground, 
or, better still, in a box or cask large enough to allow complete 
plunging of the roots. As soon as dipped, and with all the mud 
which will adhere, the roots are packed in wet straw. If the 
trees are to remain thus packed for any length of time, the 
greatest care must be observed to keep the straw damp, and 
water must be applied gently to avoid washing the puddle from 
the roots. 

Sacking the Roots with a Ball of Earth. — This 
is a very satisfactory way to move orange trees, and if it is well 
done the tree does not wilt, and m,a}' be moved long distances 
and handled more freely than the puddled roots. To ball and 
sack trees, dig a trench along one side of the row about six 
inches away from the trees, and about a foot and a half deep. By 
careful digging under each tree from this trench the tap-root is 
reached, and severed by a cut with a sharp spade. The side 
roots are also cut by thrusting the spade down on the three 
sides not opened by the trench. The top earth is carefully re- 
moved nearly down to the highest lateral roots, and after being 



Sug^estiojis for Planting. 447 

sure that the roots are severed all around, the tree is lifted out 
with the ball of earth which incloses the remaining roots. This 
ball is rounded off carefully and then placed on a half of a grain 
sack or other piece of burlap, the corners of which arc drawn 
up and tied around the stem of the tree with baling rope. It is 
also an additional suret}' of safety to allow the baling rope to 
run under and around the ball to aid in holding it together. The 
balled trees must be carefully handled so as not to break the 
ball, which would result in tearing to pieces, as well as exposing, 
the roots. 

The manner of handling the trees depends somewhat upon 
the character of the nursery soil. Successful balling of course 
requires a certain amount of adhesiveness in the soil. 

One cannot be too careful in the handling of orange trees. 
Mr. Garey well remarks: " The orange tree is one of the hardiest 
trees known; will survive very harsh and unhorticultural-like 
treatment; it will withstand drought and excess of water; it 
will live and make a stunted growth, with slovenly cultivation, 
when what are called ourhardy trees would die. At thesame time 
the whole of the citrus family responds most gratefully to proper 
treatment." Though this is true of the tree when in permanent 
place, it must be most carefully transplanted. Lifting from the 
nursery when the soil is too dry, exposure of the roots, or care- 
less planting, will consign the tree to a slow, sickly growth, and 
often kill it outright. 

Cutting Back at Transplanting. — The rule of reduc- 
ing the top to compensate for the loss of roots, is vital in moving 
orange trees. Some growers cut back the young trees a little 
while before lifting from the nursery. Some take off all leaves 
after planting out, and claim that growth starts sooner and more 
strongly. 

Digging Holes and Setting Trees. — The same con- 
siderations which require extra care in lifting trees for nurser\-, 
rule in placing them in permanent place. All authorities on the 
subject specify exceptional care in preparing the tree holes as a 
profitable investment on the part of the planter. Large and 
deep holes are commended. Digging very deep and filling in 
the bottom of the hole with bones, or with well-rotted manure 
to which wood ashes and lime are added, has proved profitable 
when proper materia' s are at hand, 1 ut if they are placed in the 
bottom of the hole they must always be covered with clean soil 
so that the roots may not come into immediate contact with 
them. As to digging deep holes, they would be more injurious 
than beneficial in a tight subsoil, but there is little use in putting 
oranges on such a subsoil unless blasting is done, as described in 



448 



Spreading the Roots at Planting. 



Chapter XI. There are good orange trees now bearing in such 
places — good enough at least to be an ornament and acceptable 
fruit producers for family use. 

In preparing holes for orange trees, Mr. Lelong advises the 
excavation of a 'hole as large as the spread of the roots will 
extend, filling the hole with good top soil so as to form a mound 
in the center; in the center of the mound a hole is made with 
the shovel handle, into which the tap-root of the tree is placed, 
the laterals being evenly extended and arranged upon the 
slanting surface of the mound, as shown in the engraving. 
Over the roots thus arranged surface soil is thrown and 

the whole lightly tramped. 
Then water is used and the 
earth compacted around 
the roots by water settling. 
After the water has settled 
away, the hole is filled and 
the surface left loose to 
prevent evaporation. 

There are very elaborate 

methods of tamping and 

tramping of the soil about 

the roots, described by 

different growers. The 

aim is the same in all 

cases, viz., to secure close 

contact of the roots with the 

soil at all points. This is 

Sereading Orange Roots in Planting essential, and there may 

"^' be many different waj's of 

attaining it. 

These instructions apply to the planting out trees which are 

taken up with long roots and puddled. In planting out balled 

trees, the sack is not removed, but after the tree is embedded in 

the earth, the tying rope is cut. The sack soon decays in the 

soil. 

Orange trees can be successfully transplanted at different 
times of the year, but the best time is after the ground gets well 
warmed by the spring sunshine. The date at which this condi- 
tion arrives depends upon locality. 

Great care must be taken that transplanted orange trees do 
not become dry after planting. The methods of irrigation are 
described in Chapter XV. 

Distances in Planting. — Distances for planting orange 




Pruning the Orange. 449 

trees are governed by the habit of the varieties. Mr. Lelong 
gives the following table: — 

Dwarfs, such as Tangerine, Satsuma, etc lO feet 

Semi-dwarfs, such as Washington Navel, Mediterranean 

Sweet, Maltese Blood, and St. Michael 18 to 24 feet 

Standards, such as Wolfskill's Best, etc 24 to 30 feet 

Seedlings 30 to 40 feet 

PRUNING ORANGE TREES. 

The best form of tree is a low-headed, compact growth, 
something as shown by the accompanying engraving from Mr. 

Lelong's treatise. It is secured 
by trimming the young tree at 
transplanting to a straight shoot 
of four to six feet in height and 
tying itto a stake to give it support 
and straightness. All shoots from 
^j|s ^'^ above the bud are permitted to 

-^5= .^^ grow to shade the trunk and to 

^' '^ stiffen it, though a too strong 

,^^ ^> lateral may be pinched. The 

trunk must be protected from the 

sun by wrapping with paper or 

^v ^'>^ something of the kind, until the 

'"'<%- leaves do that service. The lower 




j-# 



i— t - -s 



/^^ll w branches will bear the first fruit, 

*'*'" •>-'• ^-9^ and as the tree attains age they 



will stop growing and can be re- 

-•cbi -- ^:_:r^ ^=SL moved. Thus the head of the 

tree is raised gradually, and space 

Desirable Form of Orange Tree, jg giy^n for the drooping of the 

higher branches. In the top of the tree too the rule for pruning 
should be to remove the weaker branches which seem to have 
outlived their usefulness, and thus give more room for the vigor- 
ous ones. The principle which should govern in this matter, as 
well stated by Mr. Sallee, is given at the bottom of page 162, in 
the general chapter on pruning. 

High heading is practiced by some growers as shown by an 
adjacent engraving. It is open to the general objection to high 
heading. The objectionable form of tree reached by thinning 
out of the head is also shown, both engravings being bor- 
rowed from Lelong. The natural form of the orange tree is 
undoubtedly superior so long as the tree is not persecuted by 
pests, and is in a situation where natural conditions favor it. 
29 



450 



Diseases of the Orange. 



When it is beset by evils its treatment may have to be changed 
to aid in conquering them. 

DISEASES OF THE ORANGE. 

The orange is thus far subject to few 
diseases in California. The gum dis- 
ease at the root-crown which gave 
much cause for complaint some years 
ago, was found to be largely due to 
immediate contact of irrigation water 
k^ with the trunk, and was reduced by 
^ preventing such contact. Butallgum- 
^^' ming is not due to this cause. When 
it occurs either on trunk or limb, the 
remedy is to cut away the diseased bark 
and gauge out the wood beneath until 
sound white wood is reached, and then 
cover the wound with a plaster of cow 
manure and clay, or paint over with 
some protecting material, for whichMr. 
Lelong commends rubber paint as best. 
There are several serious insect ene- 
mies of the orange which will be men- 
A High-headed Tree. tioned in the chapter on that subject. 
The " black smut," which makes 
leaves and fruit unsightly in some 
parts of the State, is a fungoid 
growth upon the exudations of 
insects, and can be prevented by 
removing its cause. 

VARIETIES OF THE ORANGE. 



Though many varieties of the 
orange have been introduced in 
California, but few are generally 
grown. A considerable part of 
the product is from unnamed 
seedlings, but the prices which the 
improved varieties command in 
the market is constantly increas- 
ing the proportion of budded sorts. 
The hardiness of California seed- 
lings, which makes them profitable 
where some foreign varieties fail, and the greater size which the 
tree attains, lead some growers to maintain the superiority of 





Result of Thinning Out. 



Oranges Chiefly Groivn in California. 



451 



seedlings. The practice prevails to some extent of plantinq- 
seedling and budded varieties in alternating squares, as stated 
on page 121, and this gives the planter the advantages of both 
classes of trees. The question about the superior longevity of 
seedlings must be left to the future to determine. California 
experience has been too short to warrant conclusions. 

At the South the suitability of certain varieties has been 
well ascertained ; in the newer orange regions at the North, ex- 
perience has not proceeded far enough with budded varieties to 
determine which will best answer local requirements. The fol- 
lowing descriptions of the varieties now most popular in this 
State, are, for the most part, condensed from Mr. Lelong's treatise 
and from the same source the accompanying illustrations are 
also derived. 




Valencia Late. 

Washington Navel (Bakia, Riverside Navel). — This orange is the most 
popular of all foreign varieties grown in this State. Fruit large, solid, and heavy 
(see colored plate); skin smooth, and of a very fine texture; very juicy; high flavored, 
with melting pulp; is nearly seedless, only in exceptional cases are seed found; tree 
is a good and prolific bearer, medium thorny, a rapid grower, although it does not 
attain a very large size; bears when very young, commencing to bear as early as one 
year old from the bud. This variety was imported from Bahia, Brazil, in 1870, by 



452 



Oranges Chiefly Groivn in California. 



Mr. W. Sanders, of the DepartmentofAgricultureat Washington, and in 1874 two trees 
were received from Washington by Mrs. Tibbetts, of Riverside, Cal. Trees were also 
received about the same time by Alexander Craw, but the Riverside trees were first in 
fruit, and the excellence of the variety being at once recognized, it was propagated 
rapidly and took the name Riverside Navel from the place where its characteristics 
were first made known. A. S. Chapman says: " The Washington Navel is the finest 
of all the budded varieties, and sells for more money, but the tree does not grow nor 
bear well except under the most propitious circumstances, and the fruit is very sus- 
ceptible to frost." 




Maltese Blood, 



Australian Navel. — This tree does not resemble the Washington Navel in 
its habit; the foliage does, however, and in this way its identity has been much mis- 
taken. The fruit varies greatly in size, all sizes generally being found on the same 
tree. A very shy bearer. Blooms profusely, but very few of the blooms set; often 
the trees are loaded with fruit, and after having attained the size of marbles drop to 
the ground, without any apparent cause; fruit also has a tendency to split at the 
navel, which is usually large and prominent, unlike that of the Washington Navel, 
which is round and generally small. This variety was introduced from Australia, 
by the late Lewis Wolfskill, in 1874. 

Valencia Late ( Valencia August, Loretto, Riveras Late) has fruited for eight 
years in this State, and is one of the best varieties grown. The trees do not begin to 
bear as soon as some other budded sorts, which is much in its favor, as most budded 
foreign varieties bear too soon, and thus check the attainment of proper size by the 
tree. The orange is also very late in ripening, so that it can be shipped after other 
varieties are gone. The Valencia Late resembles the Paper-skin St. Michael in color 
and firmness, but is oblong and larger, as the engraving shows. The Valencia Late 
has sold at the East at very high prices. 

Maltese Blood. — A popular variety. The fruit is small to medium; oval and 



Oranges Chiefly Grown in California. 



453 



has fine texture and flavor. The pulp is streaked and mottled with red. It has few 
seeds. The tree is thornless and of dwarf habit, and may be planted closer than 
freer growing kinds. Mr. A. B. Chapman, of San Gabriel; is the largest grower of 
Maltese Blood, and he regards it as one of the best varieties he has. His shipments 
to Eastern markets have brought large returns. Mr. A. S. Chapman says the 
Maltese Blood is hardier than the Washington Navel, and the tree a more generous 
bearer. 

Mediterranean Sweet. — Fruit medium to large, pulp and skin of fine texture, 
very solid and few seeds; ripens late, often not until May or June. The tree is thorn- 
less and of dwarf habit of growth and is inclined to overbear. It is perhaps the 
most widely distributed variety in the State, next to the Washington Navel. It was 
introduced and named by T. A. Garey, of Los Angeles. 




Mediterranean Sweet. 

Paper Rind St. Michael. — Fruit small, round, very firm and very juicy; 
pale, thin skin, and being very uniform in size packs well. It ripens late, and keeps 
well on the trees as late as August in Southern California. It does not drop at 
naaturity. The tree is of dwarf habit, medium thorny, a good bearer, and very de- 
sirable. It is a great favorite in the San Francisco market. 

Rio. — Fruit and tree resemble Mediterranean Sweet; but the fruit is much 
larger, has a thicker skin, ripens late; very seldom can the entire crop be picked from 
the tree, as it does not ripen evenly; green oranges are found on the trees throughout 
the summer. The tree is distinguished from the Mediterranean Sweet by the growth of 
long shoots resembling water sprouts, which start from the side limbs as well as from 
the leader. At the tops of these shoots numerous lateral branches put forth, forming 
a large head, clear above the main mass of foliage; the tree is thornless, or nearly so, 
and is of a dwarf habit. 

Asher's Best. — Named by Southern California Horticultural Society, for J. 
M, Asher, of San Diego, who imported the tree expecting to get a Shaddock, but 
proved an excellent orange when it came into fruit ; growth of tree much like Med- 



454 



California Varieties of the Orange. 



iterranean Sweel; fruit medium to large; rind very thin ; juicy, sweet, and with few 
seeds. 

AzoREAN St. Michael. — Imported by Mr. Chapman, of San Gabriel ; fruit 
medium to large, and solid; pulp fine and melting; medium thin rind, flattened, few 




Paper Rind St. Michael. 

seeds; ripens early and keeps well on the tree; a rapid grower and a prolific bearer; 
is a large tree, and is recommended for standard purposes. This variety has fruited 
with Mr. Chapman for a number of years, and is considered by him very ^desirable 
and profitable. 

King Orange. — Imported from Siam by Dr. S. R. Magee, of Riverside, and 
fruited first by J. E. Cutter, of the same place ; fruit ripens late, in May and June; 
below medium size ; very rough rind ; segments cleave when fully ripe ; very high 
flavor, but unattractive in appearance, both in fruit and tree, which is exceedingly 
thorny, resembling a lime. 

Large St. Michael. — Does not resemble the Paper Rind St. Michael in the 
least. The fruit is large and very coarse ; tree thorny ; inferior. 

Small St. Michael. — Not an established variety. It is entirely distinct from 
the Paper Rind St. Michael ; fruit small ; thick, coarse skin; inferior. 

DuROi. — Fruit small to medium, firm, ribbed seeds, and a few thorns. It has 
not proved valuable in this State. Said to do well in Florida. 

leading CALIFORNIA SEEDLINGS. 

Wolfskill's Best, or Favorite.— Originated by J. W. Wolfskill, of Los 
Angeles. A good grower. Original tree now stands over thirty feet high, and as 
large as any seedling of the same age. The original tree is not very thorny. Thorns 
decrease in size as the tree grows older; fruit is of excellent quality, somewhat 
flallened, deep orange red, fine grain and pulp; a good bearer; early, and should be 
picked before May. Ripens ahead of all other native varieties ; is largely cultivated 
in this State ; the choicest of all native varieties. 



California Varieties of the Orange. 



455 



Mayberry's Premier. — Originated by E. L. Mayberry, at El Molino Ranch, 
near San Galiriel. The origin 1 tree (a twin tree) stands about thirty feet high. 
The orange is medium in size, but of a deep red color; rind thin and very smooth ; 
pulp and grain very fine. The old tree has very small thorns. Budding appears to 
improve th-.^ growth of the trees. Spring buds generally make large trees the first 




Wolfskill's Best — a California Seedling. 

year. This variety should be budded on thrifty stocks, able to hold the weight of the 
bud after a year's growth. 

Baldwin's Favorite. — Originated by the late Lewis Wolfskill at the Santa 
Anita Ranch, Los Angeles County. It is a good seedling, but lacking qualities 
which the two varieties above mentioned possess. 

Wilson's Best {Lake Vineyard). — Originated by the late B. D. Wilson, at San 
Gabriel; a good variety. Original tree is very large and quite thorny. 

KoNAH. — .\ California seedling from seed grown on Konah Island. Fruit large, 
rough, and thick skin; tree very thorny and very hard to keep in shape; ripens early, 
and is considered by many to be a very desirable variety, better in some localities 
than in others. 



Cooper's Seedling. — Originated by Hon. Ellwood Cooper, at Ellwood, Santa 
Barbara County. Fruit of medium size, oval; pulp very fine and melting; color 
pale yellow; very thin skin; seedless; a thrifty grower, and a prolific bearer — a 
very desirable variety. 

Kercheval's Queen. — Originated at Los Angeles. Fruit above medium size, 
excellent flavor, few seeds, and medium thin rind. I'he tree is a vigorous grower. 



456 



Asiatic Oranges in California. 



JAPANESE VARIETIES. 

Tangerine, or Kid Glove. — Several varieties are grown under this name, 
the Japanese names having been lost. The largest growers are the Chapmans, of 
San Gabriel, who have had excellent results from budding the Tangerine high up in 
standard trees, thus providing for the weeping habit of the Tangerine. The fruit 
grown by them is deep red, snjall; rind separating readily; very sweet. 

Satsl'MA (Unslmt, Ootjshm). — A large acreage of this variety has been recently 
planted; tree thus far quite hardy; fruit irregular in size, but usually medium size, 
flattened; rind easily detached; tine texture, sweet and nearly seedless. 




The Satsuma or Unshiu Orange. 

KiNCQUAT {Citrtis Japonic a). — Fruit very small, oblong or olive shaped, rind 
thick, yellow, smooth; sweet scented; very little pulp; containing many seeds; tree 
dwarf (a bush), a prolific bearer. The fruit is edible whole, also valuable for pre- 
serves and marmalade. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE LEMON, LIME, ETC. 

The lemon product of California is very small. The tree 
is less hardy than the orange, and is otherwise more exacting in 
its requirements. For this reason, it is probable that a much 
smaller area of California is adapted to the commercial produc- 
tion of the lemon. The fruit also has a grievous competitor in 
the imported Sicily fruit and the popular favoritism for it, which, 
like many other popular fancies, amounts to a blind prejudice. 
There is, however, reason for the preference for the imported 
fruit, when one considers only the relation of the common Cali- 
fornia seedling lemon to the Sicilian fruit, for the common Cali- 
fornia seedlings are very poor, overgrown, and coarse, deficient 
in acid, and full of bitterness ; prone to decay even when fairly 
handled. But when the comparison is drawn between a few im- 
proved varieties, which are now quite largely produced and prop- 
erly cured by a few enterprising growers, California lemons have 
nothing to fear from the imported fruit, except the popular prej- 
udice for the imported, which is so unreasonable that it con- 
demns without trial. Still there is progress being continually 
made by the few growers who have confidence in the home prod- 
uct, and intelligence and diligence to properly prepare it for 
marketing, and it is fair to expect that the next few years will 
bring California-grown lemons into better repute and larger sup- 
ply. 

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE LEMON. 

The lemon requires a practically frostless situation. Such 
places are found in largest area in the southern half of the coast 
regions of California, but also exist at favoring elevations in the 
interior. The moderating influence of proximity to salt water, 
and the effect of local topography and environment, which give 
frost-free nooks or belts, are elements favoring the lemon grower. 
In such situations the lemon blooms and fruits continuously 
throughout the year. 

While the lemon requires a less extreme of low temperature 
than the orange, it also thrives with a less extreme of high tem- 

^457) 



458 Treatment of the Lemon Tree. 

perature and less duration of it. It apparently does not require 
as much heat to develop acid, which is the charm of the lemon, 
as it does sugar, which is essential to an acceptable orange; 
therefore, a coast situation which may not yield a sweet orange 
may produce a good lemon. Another advantage of the lower 
summer temperature is that the continuous ripening is not inter- 
fered with, as it is by high summer heat, which hastens maturity 
and brings the mass of the fruit to marketable condition in the 
winter — a season when the demand for the lemon is very small. 
It is likely, however, that this objection may in part, at least, be 
overcome by the proper storage and treatment of the fruit for 
sale, at a considerable interval after picking, as will be mentioned 
presently. 

The lemon delights in a sandy loam, and probably our best 
orchards are on such soil, but the trees thrive in other soils. 
There is a difference of opinion among growers as to what soil 
is to be especially sought for. As with some other fruits, the 
choice of soil is to a certain extent governed by the stock on which 
the lemon is worked. 

PROPAGATING, PLANTING, PRUNING. 

The prevailing stock for the lemon at present is the orange 
seedling, though there are still some advocates of the lemon 
root. The orange root thrives on a greater variety of soils than 
the lemon, and produces a healthy lemon tree where the lemon 
on its own root would fail. The growth of orange seedlings for 
budding has been described in the previous chapter. Lemon 
seedlings are grown in the same way. Plants either for per- 
manent growth or for stocks for budding can be grown from 
cuttings. Cuttings should be of moderate size, of well-hardened 
wood. They should be of the last growth, taken when the tree 
is dormant, and should be planted when the ground is warm, and 
kept moist, but not wet. The budding of the lemon is practically 
the same as of the orange, which has been described. An old tree 
can be changed from one variety to another by cutting back in 
the spring and budding in the fall, into the young wood, which 
grows freely from the stubs of the renewed limbs. 

Planting of the lemon is the same as that of the orange. 
The distance in planting varies from twenty to twenty-five feet. 

Pruning the lemon consists chiefly in forming the young tree, 
and in this effort pinching overgrowing shoots will save much 
cutting afterwards, and will check the running out of straggling 
branches, a habit of growth to which the lemon is quite prone. 
Trimming out the head by renewing weak shoots is also some- 
times desirable. 



Curing Lemons. 459 

PREPARATION OF LEMONS FOR MARKETING. 

The lemon as taken from the tree is not in condition for 
marketing. To secure best results in quality and in keeping 
properties, the lemon should be carefully cut from the tree as 
soon as the faintest approach of the yellow color is discernible. 
To allow the fruit to hang upon the tree imtil full lemon color 
is assumed, gives a lemon which is deficient in juice, oversized, 
apt to develop bitterness, and prone to decay. If gathered as 
the color begins to turn, lemons may be kept for months, and they 
will improve in market qualities, by a thinning and toughening 
of the skin, and by increase of juice content.s. This curing of 
the fruit, as it is called, is accomplished in many simple ways. 
If the fruit is gathered and placed in piles under the trees, where, 
with low-headed trees, it is completely shaded by the foliage, it 
progresses well and comes out beautiful in color and excellent 
in quality providing it is a good variety. Some have trusted 
wholly to this open-air curing under the trees, merely protecting 
the fruit by a thin covering of straw, or other light, dry mate- 
rials. Others let the fruit lie a few days under the trees, carefully 
shaded from the sun, and place it in boxes or upon trays and 
keep it months in a darkened fruit-house, guarding the fruit 
against draughts of air. There are half a dozen methods which 
yield good results, and there is still room for experiment. By 
skillful handling it seems quite certain that the fruit may be 
gathered early in the winter, and kept for marketing the follow- 
ing summer, for the winter demand for lemons is small. 

VARIETIES OF LEMONS FOR CALIFORNIA. 

The best lemons, according to present experience, are of few 
varieties, part of which have been introduced, and part are of lo- 
cal origin. The following are the varieties now most popular, as 
described by Mr. Lelong:* 

Lisbon. — Imported from Portugal. Fruit uniformly medium size, fine grain, 
sweet rind, very strong acid; very few seeds; a good keeper, can be picked at any 
time of the year. The tree is a strong grower, prolific bearer, and makes a larger 
tree than other varieties; quite thorny, but thorns decrease in size as the tree grows 
older. A very desirable variety. 

ViLi.A Franca. — Imported from Europe. Is of a medium size, considered 
to be the finest of all lemons grown; has fruited m Los Angeles for several years in 
the orchard of J. W. Wolfskill. Fruit oblong, slightly pointed at the blossom end, 
rind thin, without any trace of bitterness even when green, acid, strong, juicy, nearly 
seedless. Tree thornless, branches spreading and somewhat drooping, foliage abun- 
dant to protect the fruit from sun; said to withstand a lower temperature than other 
imported varieties. 



'Citrus Culture in California. 



46o The Lime in California. 

Genoa. — Imported from Genoa by Don Josti Rubio, of Los Angeles. Medium 
size, oval, sweet rind, thornless, and nearly seedless. Tree is of a dwarf habit, a good 
keeper, one of the best. 

Asiatic. — Imported by J. W. Wolfskill, of Los Angeles. Fruit medium size, 
oval, thin rind, without any trace of bitterness under the most careful tests. Tree 
and fruit resemble the Genoa, but a better acid; thornless. 

Sicily. — This lemon was about the first cultivated in California, .Since then 
many other varieties have been introduced which are far its superior. However, if 
put through the proper treatment, will produce a good lemon. 

Eureka. — A native of California, originated by C. R. Workman, at Los Ange- 
les, from seed imported from Hamburg in 1872, only one seed growing, from which 
buds were put by him on orange stock. Distributed by T. A. Garey, of Los Ange- 
les. Fruit medium size, sweet rind, a very good keeper, and very popular, more so 
than any other variety. The drawback it has is that the leaves are inclined to curl, 
scarce foliage, fruit produced at extremities of branches and liable to get sunburnt; 
but this is generally avoided by letting the branches hang low, and pruned as little as 
possible. 

Agnes. — Originated at National City by Mr. Frank A. Kimball; of superior 
quality, medium size, sweet rind, pulp very fine, with strong acid and very few seeds; 
thorns few, short, and blunt; is a rapid grower, but drooping in character; medium 
dwarf. This lemon has fruited for six years with Mr. Kimball, and has proved itself 
to be a good keeper and a very desirable variety. 

Olivia. — Originated by George C. Swan at San Diego. Fruit of medium size, 
and said to be of excellent quality; strong acid, and a good bearer; thorny. 

Garcelon's Knobby. — Originated by G. W. Garcelon at Riverside. Fruit of 
medium size; when cured very thin rind, juicy, and the tests have found it to contain 
more citric acid to its size than other lemons. 

THE LIME. 

The lime has pi-oved much less hardy than the lemon. It 
has been killed in situations where the orange and lemon have 
not been injured. Unless adequate protection is thought worth 
the effect, there is little use in planting the lime, except in a 
frostless situation. Such localities are found near the ocean in 
Southern California, and here and there at proper elevation in 
the interior, but the growth of the lime must be counted very 
hazardous. There is less inducement to experiment with the 
fruit from the fact that the Pacific Coast markets are well sup- 
plied with Mexican limes, usually at prices which leave no op- 
portunity for competitors. 

Limes are grown from seed, the variety usually coming 
true from seed. The trees are small and are frequently grown 
in hedge form. The common variety is the Mexican. Mr. Le- 
long mentions a hardier sort, which should be given wider trial, 
as follows: — 

Imperial. —Imported by J- W. Wolfskill, of Los Angeles; the largest of all 
limes; the size of the Genoa lemon. It is quite as hardy as the lemon; can, therefore, 
be planted where the Mexican lime would be sure to fail. The tree is very produc- 
tive, fruits all the year round, and is less thorny than the Mexican lime. 



Ornaviental Varieties. 46 1 

THE CITRON. 

This fruit is little grown in California, although it is quite 
hardy and could be produced over a large area. The only use 
for the fruit is in its candied rind, and no one has deemed it 
worth while to push competition with the imported candied cit- 
ron, though very fine experimental lots have been produced. 
Mr. Lelong gives the following note: — 

Citrus Medica Cedra (Citron of Commerce). — Shape oblong like the lemon, 
with a very pleasant aroma, which is much esteemed; skin bright yellow, smooth 
and very glossy; inner skin white, coarse, and thick, with very little trace of bitter- 
ness. The fruit grows very large, weighing from three to five pounds each. The 
tree is of a dwarf habit, with large, glossy leaves and very ornamental. It grows 
from the cutting, and is also budded on orange, lime, and lemon stock. It comes 
true from seed. 

ORNAMENTAL CITRUS SPECIES. 

There are grown in this State for curiosity, or ornament, vari- 
ous minor citrus species, including the dwarf ornament sorts 
from Asia, and the mammoth fruited kinds, the Pomelo, Shad- 
dock, and Bergamot. These large fruits, which, in the case of 
the Pomelo, attain a weight from two to five pounds, are used 
for decorative purposes. There are, of course, the ornamental 
species grown by florists for their fragrant bloom. 



CHAPTER XXX I I I. 

MINOR SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS. 

A NUMBER of interesting fruits are now grown in this State, 
which, for one reason or another, have not attained any great 
commercial importance. Some of them are quite Hkely to ad- 
vance in popular esteem and to gain a higher place in the mar- 
kets. Others will probably never be grown except for home 
use and garden ornament. Two interesting papers* have re- 
cently been written on these rarer fruits of California, and free 
use will be made of the facts therein stated, in connection with 
other data which the writer has collected. The arrangement 
will be in alphabetical order, and, though some of the growths 
should properly be classed as tropical, they will be presented in 
one group for sake of convenience. 

THE BANANA. 

The banana has been a favorite plant for experimental cult- 
ure for many years, and though good fruit has been grown at 
various points in the State, the culture is too hazardous to war- 
rant large investment, and if this danger was not present, the 
abundant supplies available from the islands of the Pacific would 
probably reduce the profits to a narrow margin. About twelve 
years ago there were experiments on quite a large scale in Los 
Angeles County, but the low temperature which has been oc- 
casionally reached since that time seems to be a warning that 
the banana can be trusted only in protected situations and in 
small numbers, which can be given especial attention. With 
these conditions the banana may yield very acceptable fruit for 
home use and be an ornament to the garden. Its beauty is, 
however, seriously impaired by winds which whip its tender 
leaves into shreds and give the plant an unkempt appearance. 

The largest number of bananas are seen in Los Angeles and 
Santa Barbara, and one grower at an elevation near the latter 



*" Tropical and Semi-Tropical Fruits of California," etc., by W. G. Klee, Bulletin I. Division of 
Pomology, U. S. Department c,f Agriculture, 1888. 

" R re Fruits of the Santa Barbara Region," by Prof. H. C. Ford, Report American Horti- 
cultural Society, Vol. V. W. H. Ragan, Greencastle, Ind., 1888. 
(462) 



Hoiv to Grow the Banana. 463 

place reports his table supplied daily throughout the year with 
the fruit of the Cavendish species. Mr. S. H. Gerrish, of Sacra- 
mento, has made a specialty of the banana for a long time in his 
city garden. He gives the following note on varieties and sug- 
gestions as to culture on a small scale: — 

The varieties planted here have been the Florida " Hage," "Narse" or "Orin- 
aka," called by Spaniards "El Babe," the fool. It is a splendid-looking plant, but 
produces inferior fruit. This variety has been planted largely all over the Slate. As 
it will stand anything it is a great success as an ornament. Other varieties have 
been tried, but from causes have failed to succeed well. The Caveiulishii, a splendid 
variety, growing only six feet high, bears a larger number than most varieties and 
matures early, t)ut it would not do. The Daca was too tender. The Alitsa Rosacea, 
the banana which produces the manila hemp, does well, is a great ornament, but the 
fruit amounts to nothing. The only variety I have seen producing fruit in this State 
fit to eat is the Martinique or Yellow Costa Rica. It is a beautiful plant, grows six- 
teen feet high, bears well, grows rapidly, stands the winters, the fruit is superior, 
four inches long by an inch and a half in diameter, of a clear, golden yellow, soft kid- 
glove-like texture of rind, firm, soft, buttery, melting, sweet pulp of an aromatic 
vinous flavor. 

By experiment I have found that the banana will live — if in a proper soil — with- 
out injury to the roots, at a temperature as lowas sixteen degrees Fahr., the stalk will 
stand a temperature of twenty-five degrees without injury, and the leaves are not 
wilted until the air is chilled to thirty degrees. This is with the thermometer placed 
near the plants, or at an elevation of five feet from the ground. As this plant is a na- 
tive of the hot tropics, where there is an immense rainfall, it is necessary here to pro- 
duce like conditions; a soil must be created with conditions similar. This can be easily 
done. My method has been to supply the richest food for this gigantic plant and 
force it to its extreme growth. Everyone has old chip dirt, ashes, boots, shoes, 
clothes, and manure, which are often a nuisance. Dig a big hole, bury this up, in the 
center of the mass place a pailful of sand, and plant the fresh bulb. This is to pie- 
serve the dormant plant from the wire-worms and insects, which will not attack the 
growing plant. As the plant grows give it an abundance of water and all the slops 
of the house. Any kind of manure, fresh or old, ashes, leaves, and vegetables, will 
soon disappear and be absorbed by this gigantic king of plants. As the rainy 
season approaches pile all the leaves and twigs of trees around the plants. It 
protects the bulbs and makes the soil rich for next season. It is a very easy plant 
to cultivate. Never try to protect it by covering in winter, for it makes the plant 
weak. My experience shows me that it is more than useless. 

THE CHERIMOYER OR CUSTARD APPLE. 

The oldest cherimoyer {anona cheninoja) ' is growing in 
Santa Barbara. According to Professor Ford, the fruit was intro- 
duced about twenty-five years ago, and the parent tree, now 
standing on the grounds of Mr. A. Packard, has attained its full 
height of sixteen feet, and has produced abundant fruit for many 
years in such perfection that the seeds have readily germinated, 
and trees thus propagated have been in successful bearing in 
several Santa Barbara gardens. The leaves are oval and pointed 
at both ends; flowers solitary, very fragrant, and having a green- 
ish color. Good specimens of the fruit are three or four inches 
in diameter, often heart-shaped, grayish brown or nearly black 
when fully ripe. The flesh, in which thirty or forty brown seeds 



464 The Giiava and Its Uses. 

are found, is soft, sweet and pleasant to the taste, being most 
palatable when near decay. Apparently it has no particular 
season for ripening, yet the best specimens seem to be found in 
Santa Barbara in April and May. 

The cherimoyer is also found in gardens in San Diego and 
Los Angeles. It needs a well-protected situation. At Berkeley 
it was killed by a temperature of twenty-eight degrees Fahr. 

THE GUAVA. 

Two species of guava have been quite widely tried in this 
State — the strawberry guava {Psidiuin cattleyanuni) and the 
pear-shaped guava (^Psidiuin pyiiferiivi). The former is the 
hardier, and in fact seems to be about as hardy as the orange, 
and it has fruited in widely separated parts of the State; the 
latter is quite tender, and is at present only grown in favorable 
places along our southern coast, and even there it is found in- 
ferior in quality and usefulness to the strawberry guava. One 
of the largest guava growers is Hon. T. J. Swayne, of National 
City, San Diego County, who writes of the fruit as follows : — 

Its habit of growth is bushy, but if pruned to one stem will form a low-limbed 
tree of ten or twelve feet in height (the highest in this vicinity). Its small, white, 
and very fragrant blossom appears a little later than that of the orange, the fruit be- 
ginning to ripen in September, continuing through December, thus giving a long 
season. The best flavor is found when thoroughly ripe and fresh picked, at which 
time it is of a dark purple color. The bushes are heavy bearers and when the soil is 
kept moist by monthly irrigation and a reasonable amount of fertilizer used, if not 
too overloaded, the fruit will grow to the size of. or larger than, an English walnut. 
About nine feet is a good distance to set the plants apart; however, they can be set 
half that space one way and on becoming too close by growth, every other one can 
be readily transplanted after fruiting, which begins at two years from the seed. 

Of the uses of the guava, Mr. S. Whitmore, of San Diego, 
says: — 

When dead ripe, ready to fall off, it is good to eat out of the hand from the 
bush. It is also good to eat as you would strawberries — with sugar and cream. 
Slice the fruit, and sugar from two to eight hours Ijefore using. Those who have 
tried them say they make splendid pies. The main use, however, is to make jelly — 
the finest jelly there is made. This is universally acknowledged, I believe. I 
honestly think there can be more jelly made from an acre of guavas than from any 
other kind of fruit, currants not excepted. 

The guava grows readily from the seed, and grows from 
cuttings under glass. In regions of generous rainfall and on re- 
tentive soil it does not require irrigation, but it must have 
sufficient moisture at command. A light loam seems best 
adapted to the shrub. It should be more widely grown for 
home use, and it is likely that the market demand for it 
will increase as its usefulness becomes more widely known. 

THE GRANADILLA. 

The granadilla is the term applied to the edible fruit of a 



The Jiijiibe. 



465 



species of passion vine [passiflora edulis) which is quite hardy, 
and is growing in different parts of the State. The writer has 
a vine in his garden at Berkeley which yields a large amount of 
fruit, which is eagerly eaten by the children. The fruit is about 
the size of a small hen's egg, purple exterior when ripe, the thin 
brittle shell inclosing a mass of small seeds covered with a 
bright yellow pulp, mildly acid, and of very agreeable flavor. 
Very good jelly has been made of the fruit. 

THE JUJUBE. 

The jujube {Zyzipkus jujube), from the fruit of which the 
delicate paste of the confectioner is, or should be, made, was in- 
troduced by G. P. Rixford in 1876; the plants, obtained in 
France, were planted in the Sonoma Valley, and are now about 
ten or twelve feet high, and fruiting regularly and freely. The 
plant is easily grown from seed or cuttings and has been dis- 
tributed widely through the State from Mr. Rixford's trees. 
The orange-red berries are produced three years from planting, 
and ripen in November and December. They are edible fresh 
or dried. As yet the fruit has not been turned to commercial 
account. 




The Jujui;e — Grown in Sonoma County, Caijfoknia. 
30 



466 



TJie Loquat and Medlar. 



THE LOQUAT. 

The loquat {^Eriobotrya Japonica) is widely grown in Cali- 
fornia as an ornamental plant, and a small amount of fruit is 
profitably marketed each year. Professor Ford comments upon 
the plant as follows: — 

It is in blossom in the early winter months, and by March and April the fruit is 
to be obtained in our markets, where it finds ready purchasers. Ripening at a time 
when other fruits are comparatively scarce, with its delightful and refreshing flavor, 
it promises to become still more popular. Efforts are being made to introduce a new 
variety from Japan that is said to be much larger in size than now planted, having 
more pulp, with smaller seeds. Belonging to the Pomacece, it may be grafted on any 
species of this genus. The long, dark green, and rigid leaves, the deliciously fra- 
grant flowers, and the golden clusters of fruit, render it a favorite in our ornamental 
planting. The fruit will bear shipping and would no doubt find favor in our Eastern 
markets. 

Fruit ranging from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter 
has been marketed in San Francisco from Los Angeles County, 
but the specimens usually seen are of a much smaller variety. 
As the bloom appears in early winter it may prove an uncertain 
bearer in the colder situations, and yet the tree be hardy and or- 
namental. A row of trees at James Shinn's place, near Niles, 
Alameda County, fruit freely. 

THE MEDLAR. 

The Medlar {Mesphihis Gerj/iaiiicus) has been somewhat 
widely distributed in this State. The tree is deciduous; very 
beautiful, with large lea.ves and blossoms. A specimen in the 

writer's garden, which was 
grown by Felix Gillet, of Ne- 
vada City, has attained a height 
of about fifteen feet and is about 
ten years old. The fruit is 
borne regularly and freely, and 
though considered of no ac- 
count has been eagerly carried 
away by those native to the 
Medlar country who have 
visited the place. The fruit 
needs the approach of decay 
to remove its harshness and 
The Medlar. astringency. 

THE PERSIMMON. 

The persimmon of the Southern States {Diospyros Virginia^ 
was introduced into California some time ago, as there are trees 
thirty to forty feet high growing on Rancho Chico. The widely 




The Japanese Persimuioji. 467 

distributed species, however, is the Japanese {^Diospyros Kaki), of 
which many varieties are now fruiting in different parts of the 
State. The tree is quite hardy and fruits freely both along the 
coast region and in the interior. It easily takes the form of a 
low standard, and with its large, glossy leaves during the sum- 
mer, and its immense, high-colored fruit clinging to the twigs 
after the leaves have fallen, it is a striking object in the orchard 
or in the house garden. 

Persimmons grow readily from seed but in most cases the 
improved varieties must be reproduced by grafting on seedlings 
either of the Japanese or American species. Thus far the trees 
have been so cheaply imported from Japan that little has been 
done in local propagation. The tree seems to thrive in any fair 
fruit soil, taking very kindly to close soils if well cultivated. The 
amounts of fruit now reaching our markets are increasing and a 
demand is found at fair prices, but there is no object now appar- 
ent for large increase of production. 

There are many varieties of the Japanese persimmon grown, 
and having been introduced under Japanese names, or having 
been re-christened with fancy names by the importers, much 
confusion has arisen in nomenclature. Professor Van Deman 
advises a return to standard Japanese names, and he has identi- 
fied the following three varieties, which are the most largely 
grown in this State by comparison of California and Florida 
fruit with Japanese plates and descriptions. The following is a 
condensation of Professor Van Deman's descriptions, which will 
enable many to name the varieties they are growing: — 

Yemon. — This variety is one of the most common and valuable grown, because of 
its delicious flavor and productiveness; size fromone andahalf to three inches transverse 
diameter, by about half that much from stem to apex; very flat, with distinct and 
deep furrows running into the deep cavity at the stem, and shallow ones meeting at 
the opposite end, where a slight depression usually occurs; most specimens four- 
sided; color bright orange red; external appearance is much like that of a Trophy 
tomato; flesh unmixed orange-red color, and so soft that when fully ripe it is best 
eaten with a spoon; seeds are almost if not entirely wanting; flavor is very sweet 
when soft, but astringent when hard; season early and does not require frost to ripen 
it. 

Hachiya (pronounced HaJi-chee-yah). — One of the largest of all kinds; often 
three to four inches in diameter, and rare specimens have weighed twenty ounces; 
shape oblong-conic, but tapers rather abruptly at the apex; generally quadrangular; 
color dull orange with more or less dark specks, and very small and faint reddish 
streaks towards the apex; flesh quite firm, and of a brownish-yellow color flecked 
with dull red. Owing to its solid character this variety is largely used for drying in 
Japan. Ripens rather late, and sometimes has several seeds, which are always very 
long and slender. 

Tana-nashi (pronounced Tah-na Nah-shce). — A variety of superior excellence 
for eating from the hand, for drying, and making marmalade, etc.; size medium to 
large, about three inches in both diameters; conical, heart-shaped, very symmetrical, 
not furrowed or ribbed; stem cavity usually deep; skin very smooth and translucent, 



468 The Pomegranate. 

clear, reddish-orange, covered with a delicate bloom; flesh lender, melting, about 
like jelly, clear orange-yellow, not stringy or streaked; flavor not so sweet as some, 
but very rich and pleasant; almost or entirely seedless. 

THE POMEGRANATE. 

This {xw'w {Pn)iica granahini), famed in literature and art, is 
grown in various parts of the State and certain amounts are 
profitably sold. One of the most zealous advocates of the pome- 
granate is Ex-Go\ernor Downey, of Los Angeles, who has 
written of it as follows: — 

It can hardly Idc dignified with the name of tree, but in good soil will reach the 
height of twenty feet. We know it here as a beautiful ornamental shrub, bearing a 
beautiful fruit. In a hot summer's day there is nothing so charmingly delicious as a 
saucer of the pomegranate seed, sprinkled with pulverized sugar. It is cooling and 
refreshing, and a most agreeable febrifuge- In orchard or hedge it is pleasing to the 
eye of the cultivated taste. It is a hardy plant, easy of propagation — from the natural 
seed or from the slip or cutting. The latter is the easiest as you are sure of the 
cutting as you would be of that of the willow, and with this advantage, that it does 
not require the moisture that the willow does. I have seen the charming plants in 
some of our deserted missions, clinging to life without care or cultivation, a genera- 
tion after the good old fathers that had planted them had passed away. It can be 
planted with success, from eight to ten feet apart, in orchard and in hedge, the same 
as the Osage orange, and will bear any amount of pruning. It will do well in any 
portion of the State. 

Professor Ford gives the following appreciative descrip- 
tion of the tree and its fruit and notes on its requirements : — 

The tree at maturity is from fifteen to twenty feet in height, having numerous 
slender branches often armed with thorns. The leaves are opposite, about three 
inches long and of a beautiful green. The flowers are produced at the end of the 
branches on the new shoots; the calyx is very thick and fruity and of a fine red color, 
the petals being crimped and scarlet, The beauty of the tree, not taking the fruit 
into account, has caused it to be planted in many of our gardens. The fruit is a large 
berry, covered with a hard, leathery coat and crowned with the tube of the calyx, con- 
tributing to its singular and beautiful appearance. A large number of seeds are con- 
tained in the crimson-colored pulp, which has a sprightly sub-acid flavor, agreeable 
and refreshing, although it requires some dexterity to separate it from its leathery 
covering without getting some of the juice or flavor of the latter in the mouth, which, 
owing to this skin being very rich in tannin, is quite astringent and hitter. It is 
ripened in Santa Barbara in October, but is not then gathered, but will remain on the 
tree for several months in good condition. To bring the fruit to its greatest perfec- 
tion careful cultivation is required, in fact, a neglect of this will be paid in a penalty 
of barren trees. Fine specimens are always shown at our autumn exhibitions, and it 
is occasionally found in our markets. 

Concerning the fruiting and varieties grown Mr. Klee says : 

Exposed to the raw sea-winds it does not set with fruit, and is best adapted to 
the warmer regions of the interior, where it is an early and abundant bearer. The 
variety chiefly cultivated is a bright orange color, but there is found a large variety 
of them varying from almost pure white with a faint blush to dark red; is growing on 
the grounds of Mrs. Arnerich, near Los Gato's, Santa Clara Valley; they all seemed 
to reach perfection on the gravelly soil, receiving some irrigation. 

Ex-Governor Stoneman is a large grower of pomegranates 
on his place in Los Angeles County. In the Sackett orchard 



The Melon Shrub and Tree. 469 

on the south bank of Futah Creek, in Solano County, pomegran- 
ates are grown as low standard trees for convenience in cultiv'a- 
tion, etc. The fruit is shipped from this locality in October. 

MELON SHRUB. 

This plant {Sola)inin Guatamalense ?) is described by Mr. 
Klee as a small, half-herbaceous shrub, which was brought to 
California from the table-land of Guatemala by the late Mr. 
Grelck, of Los Angeles. The fruit is yellow, splashed with 
violet, so iiewhat of the shape of the egg plant, but is seedier, 
and is readily propagated from cuttings. Plants grown at Berke- 
ley have not succeeded well. There were thriving plants at Mr. 
Grelck's place in Los Angeles several years ago, but from all 
indications the fruit ripens rather late, and requires a more tropi- 
cal summer to reach perfection. Few persons seem to like their 
flavor, which is something like a tomato and melon mixed. 
Fruits were sold in Santa Barbara market in 1887. 

THE MELON TREE. 

The melon pawpaw {Carica papaya) has been widely intro- 
duced experimentally in this State, and most situations are 
found unfitted for its growth. There is a tree at an elevation 
about four miles east of San Diego Bay which has reached a 
height of twelve feet or more, and has fruited freely, the fruit be- 
ing five or six inches in diameter. 

THE PRICKLY PEAR. 

The tiina, or fruit of the cactus {Opnntia vulgaris), is pro- 
duced in nearly all parts of the State except on the mountains. 
It was one of the old mission fruits, and was enjoyed by the 
early mining population until better fruits were available. It is 
about as large as a medium-sized pear, and has a pleasant acid 
flavor if one succeeds in escaping the prickles in getting at the 
interior of the fruit. The tnha is still a commercial article in a 
small way. Plants are grown readily from cuttings of the fleshy 
leaves. 

THE ALLIGATOR PEAR. 

The avocado or Agna cate of the Mexicans {Persea gratis- 
sinia) has proved hardy in several districts in the State, north and 
south. The tree has borne fruit in the garden of Mrs. F". Saw- 
yer, of Santa Barbara, and Professor P'ord gives a sketch of 
it, as follows: — 

,It was planted by Mr. Silas Bond sixteen years ago, and has borne fruit for the 
past three years. This tree is almost twenty feet in height, and appears in a thriving 
condition; the bark is smooth, leaves oblong, with prominent veins; flowers yellowish 



470 The Sapota. 

green ; fruit, purple in color, with the dimensions of a'medium-sized pear, but more 
oval in shape. It contains a kernel, inclosed in a soft rind, and yellowish pulp. The 
latter has the delicate, rich flavor of the peach, yet to most tastes much more gratify- 
ing. 

THE WHITE SAPOTA. 

One of the early Mission fruits which has hardly increased 
from the original planting, is thus described by Professor 
Ford: — 

In the grounds, and occupied by one of tJje Mission gardens, is a tree about two 
feet in diameter, with sturdy, upright branches forming a beautiful head of dark green 
leaves. This is the white sapote {Casimiroa Ediilis), and planted about ninety years 
ago by one of the Mission fathers ; as near as can be ascertained, there is another tree 
of the same species growing in a garden in the lower part of the city of Santa Barbara, 
that came from seed received from Mexico and planted about forty-five years ago. 
It is growing both wild and cultivated in the States of Sinola and Durango, and else- 
where in Mexico, and is known as the Lapote bianco. It belongs to the Rutaceje, 
and is more nearly allied to the orange than any other American plant. Its leaves 
are palmeate, three to four parts, with glistening upper surface; flowers small, green- 
ish yellow, growing in clusters, with short peduncles on the old wood. Here the tree 
is usually in flower during January, often earlier, the fruit maturing in March or April. 
It varies from half an inch to an inch in diameter, pale yellow in color, and is not 
agreeable to the taste until in a soft state. It has a rich sub-acid flavor, our native 
Californians being exceedingly fond of the fruit. The older tree is about twenty-five 
feet high and has about the same spread of branches, while the younger is nearly as 
large, both forming fine heads of dense evergreen foliage, making it desirable as an 
ornamental tree for street or other planting, and would no doubt bear the climatic 
conditions of many other localities. 

THE CAROB. 

Enough has been done in this State with the carob {^Cerato- 
nia Siliqiia) to demonstrate the fitness of local conditions for this 
fruitful tree which is of such wide utility in the Mediterranean 
region. The trees now growing at several points in the State 
are from seed, the effort to introduce grafts from the best foreign 
varieties has not yet succeeded. Bearing carob trees can be seen 
on the farm of Mrs. J. Arnerich, near Los Gatos, and of James 
Shinn near Niles. In these cases the trees bore at ten and 
twelve years from the seed, at which time they had a height 
of about twelve feet. Thrifty growth is made in very dry situa- 
tions without irrigation, and indicates the adaptation of the 
plant for arid lands which will not support ordinary orchard 
growths. The carob is grown froin seed or by grafting into seed- 
lings. Pour water nearly at the boiling point over the seed and 
allow to cool gradually, soaking the seed for twenty- four hours. 
Plants can be grown in boxes or in open-ground seed beds much 
as already described for orange seedlings. The carob is dioe- 
cious, consequently to be sure of desired sex, the seedling should 
be grafted from blooming trees in the proportion desired. The 
tree is a very handsome evergreen. 



Tlie Carob. 



471 




The Carob, Algaroka or St. John's Bread. 

OTHER FRUITS. 

The foregoing enumeration does not include all the exotic 
fruits which have found a place on Californian soil. There are 
many more, some of which will probably demonstrate their fit- 
ness to add to the srraces or the eains of our horticultural life. 



Part Sixth : Small Fruits. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

BERRIES AND'CURRANTS. 

In suitable soils and situations, and with proper care and 
cultivation, the small fruits sustain the general reputation of 
California by the size and quality of the product, and by the 
long-continued and abundant fruiting of the plants. Probably 
nowhere else in the world do small fruits better repay generous 
treatment than in this State, and probably nowhere do they 
suffer more from neglect. There are parts of the State, of course, 
where some small fruits, left to their own resources, thrive and 
bear abundantly, but speaking of the State as a whole, the price 
of success is intelligent devotion on the part of the grower. 

There are localities in California which favor almost contin- 
uous growth and fruiting of some of the small fruits, and it is no 
fiction to say that in such a place one may have raspberries and 
strawberries upon his table every month of the year. Such sit- 
uations are the thermal belts, which are practically frostless, 
and by securing favoring moisture conditions in the soil and* 
proper varieties of the fruits the existing temperature conditions 
will produce the results indicated. Though this be the case, 
the profitable growth of small fruits is not of course restricted 
to such situations, but the largest commercial enterprises are 
carried on in places where the sumjTier-crop rule prevails, but 
the bearing season is much longer than in the Eastern States. 

Small fruits for family use may be grown on all fertile soils, 
and therefore they should be produced on every farm. Grow- 
ing for .market on a large scale involves considerations of ease 
of cultivation, water supply, and facilities for transportation, 
which will probably occur to anyone who gives the matter the 
thought and personal observation of existing small- fruit farms, 
which such an important commercial venture should command. 
Preparation of soil for small fruits should be most thorough 
and careful. Even more generous work than that commended 
in Chapter X for trees and vines should be done. It is the 
more necessary to work deeply because subsequent culture of 
small fruits must be shallow. 
(472) 



Fropagatio)i and Planting. 473 

THE BLACKBERRY. 

The blackberry is a great favorite in California markets. 
It thrives in all parts of the State, and the plant is best 
suited of all small fruits to yield generously without irri- 
gation, though it relishes sufficient moisture and repays it 
with fruit. There is great difference in practice as to sup- 
plying water artificially. The growth of cane, and the size 
and appearance of the fruit, will show the observing grower 
what should be the practice in his situation, and the general 
suggestions as to irrigation on pages 200 and 201 are applicable. 
There are regions in which blackberries are irrigated weekly 
throughout the summer, and others in which the berries are 
gathered from June to November without irrigation. Of course, 
with such wide local variations, there can be no general rule 
for practice. Let the grower simply bear in mind that if he 
does not get good, plump, and glistening fruit and good strong 
growth of new canes at the same time, he should give irriga- 
tion. The requirements of the plant during the fruiting season 
are great, and they must be met. 

Propagation. — Blackberry plants are secured by digging 
up the shoots from old stools, securing therewith a bunch of 
fibrous roots with a portion of the main root. To propagate 
on a larger scale dig up the roots entirely and, cutting them up 
with pruning shears into pieces about two inches long, plant 
them in a well-prepared bed in the garden or nursery. Place 
the root cuttings about two inches apart and cover about three 
inches deep with well pulverized soil, the depth being regulated 
of course according to the nature of the soil : deeper in light 
than heavy soils. A light mulch will assist in retaining moist- 
ure. The time for this work is at the dormant period of the 
plant. One summer's growtli gives good plants for setting out. 

Planting out Blackberries. — Blackberries should be 
planted in rows far enough apart to admit of the use of the 
horse and cultivator. As the constant tendency of the plant is 
to extend itself in the growth of new canes, the rows should not 
be less than six to eight feet apart, and the plants about three 
feet apart in the row. The plants soon occupy the full space in 
the row, and cultivation is only possible iDCtween the rows. 
Some growers plant blackberries as they do grape-vines, seven 
or eight feet apart both ways, and then cultivate with the horse 
both ways. Planting in rows is better. The number of plants 
to fill an acre at different distances can be calculated as de- 
scribed on page 373. 



474 * Training tJie Blackberry. 

Cultivation. — Thorough cultivation of the surface soil is 
essential for retention of moisture. After the plants attain size 
cultivation should be secured with as shallow-cutting tools as 
possible so as to prevent injury to the roots, which not only 
weakens the plant, but increases the growth of suckers between 
the rows. A horse-hoe with a long knife running horizontally, 
or with duck-foot teeth, well sharpened, answers well in keeping 
the ground clear of weeds and suckers^ and the surface loose. 

Frequency of cultivation depends upon irrigation, for the 
cultivator must always follow the application of water. The 
b:;nefits of surface cultivation, as described in Chapter XIII, are 
of especial force in this connection. 

The spaces in the row which cannot be reached with the 
cultivator must be kept clean from weeds, and free from baking, 
by the use of the hoe. It is advisable that the cultivation be 
the cleanest possible, for moisture exhaustion by weeds cannot 
be afforded. 

Pruning and Training. — There is a little difference in 
the ways of training blackberries practiced in this State. Of 
course this does not include the "let alone" system, which is not 
followed by any good grower. The difference lies mainly in 
the use or disuse of artificial supports for the canes — the prevail- 
ing practice being to dispense with them. In either case the 
pruning of the canes is similar in kind but different in degree, 
for if no supports are used the canes are headed lower. 

At planting out, cut back the cane to near the surface of 
the ground and mark the plant with a small stake. At first the 
top growth should not be checked, but when new canes grow 
out strongly they should be pinched at the tip to force out lat- 
eral branches for fruiting the next year. Those who intend to 
tie canes to a stake or a trellis let them attain a height of five 
or six feet before pinching off the terminal bud; those who in- 
tend to teach the cane to stand alone pinch when it is from two 
to four feet high. All agree to pinch off the ends of the lateral 
branches at about twelve inches from the main stem. This 
pinching of blackberry canes may be done by the watchful 
grower of a few plants, with the thumb and finger, but thrifty 
blackberry plants are such rapid cane growers that in large 
plantations cutting back is often done with a sickle or corn- 
hook, several times in the course of the summer. It is also ad- 
visable to thin out the suckers with the hoe while cutting out 
weeds, leaving only about as many as it is desired to have for 
fruit the next season. After the leaves fall the canes which 



Care of the Plantation. 475 

have borne fruit during the summer are all cut off even with the 
surface of the crround with long-handled pruning shears or with 
a short, hooked knife with a long handle, and all dtbris removed 
from the rows. This method gives stout canes, with plenty of 
short side branches, well supplied with buds, which will send out 
fruiting shoots the following spring. 

If supports are used, the four to six canes which are left to 
each stool are gathered within a loosely drawn bale-rope and 
tied to the stake; or if a trellis is used the branches are brought 
up to the wire or slat so that the distance is about evenly di- 
vided between the shoots. 

Though these systematic methods of summer pruning are 
practiced and advocated by the most careful growers, it should 
be stated that there are large plantations which are conducted 
upon a more simple system. The pruning consists in cutting 
out old canes in the winter, and the only summer pruning is 
slashing off those canes which interfere with cultivation. The 
canes are sometimes held up by tying bunches of them together 
with ropes. Of course this system costs less than the more care- 
ful one which has been described, and yields profit enough to in- 
duce adherence to it. No doubt quite as great weight of berries 
could be had from a smaller area by a better system of 
growing. 

Application of Manure. — The blackberry loves very 
rich ground, and plenty of well-rotted stable manure or compost, 
as described on page 194, should be applied. It is a good plan 
to apply in a thick covering all over the ground and between 
the canes as soon as the patch is cleaned up in the fall. The 
early rains carry down the soluble parts of the manure, and later 
in the season the whole is plowed in between the rows, leaving 
a foot or more next the plants to be carefully forked in, as the 
digging fork does not cut the roots like the spade. 

Mulching. — The mulch, to keep the ground moist and to 
obviate summer cultivation, is very satisfactory where it is thor- 
oughly done. Apply coarse manure or partially rotted straw 
and the like, after the last spring cultivation, and use the hoe to 
keep down weeds and suckers which come up between the rows. 

Bearing Age and Longevity. — If blackberry plants are 
well treated the first year after planting out there will be con- 
siderable fruit the following summer. How long the plants will 
bear satisfactorily depends also on situation and treatment. 
Sometimes the plants fail early ; even with good, generous 



476 Blackberries and Deiuberries. 

treatment in good soil, the old stool becomes weak, the shoots 
are thin, and the fruit small. Some count about eight years as 
the profitable age of the plant, and then cut out the plants and 
give the land a change. Of course berry growers prepare for 
this by frequently making new plantations. 

Varieties of the Blackberry. — Comparatively few 
kinds are largely grown. The Early Wilson, Lawton, and Kit- 
tatinny are the prevailing kinds, ripening in the order named. 
The Early Harvest is favorably reported by a number of grow- 
ers. The Old Dorchester is still grown to some extent. The 
Boston High Bush is still found here and there. The newer 
kinds brought out in the Eastern States are being tested 
in this State. A re-named variety, Crandall's Early, is gaining 
favor in a number of counties. It is the earliest of the improved 
varieties, and has a very long fruiting season. The fruit was 
first distributed by W. R. Strong & Co., and by them named 
after Dr. J. R. Crandall, of Auburn, who first fruited the variety 
from plants given him by a stranger hailing from Texas. The 
variety is said to require higher training and more room than 
other varieties. 

An Evergreen Blackberry has been introduced in this State 
from Oregon. Mr. John Rock describes it as follows : " Origin 
unknown ; beautiful ; cut-leaved foliage, which it retains during 
the winter ; berries large, black, sweet, rich, and delicious. It con- 
tinues to ripen from July to November, which makes it one of 
the best berries for family use." 

Some effort has been made to secure improved varieties of 
our native blackberry. The Aughinbaugh variety is mentioned 
on page 54. Although, as there stated, it is of little account as 
a commercial variety, it is grown by a few with good results 
when interpianted with other varieties. It is also being used 
as a parent of other sorts by crossing. Judge J. H. Logan, of 
Santa Cruz, is experimenting with seedlings of the Aughinbaugh 
crossed with Crandall's Early, and has secured some plants 
bearing large, well-formed berries of excellent flavor. 

The Dewberry. — The improved varieties of the dewberry, 
or trailing blackberry, have been introduced in this State, and 
good fruit has been grown in an experimental way, but the cult- 
ure has attained no commercial position. The fact that the 
vine has to be trellised, and is otherwise rather more difficult to 
handle than the blackberry, will hold growers to the blackberry 
until the purchaser here will pay more for the dewberry, as is done 



TJie Cranberry, 



^77 



at the East. Still for a luscious fruit in the home garden the 
dewberry is worth trial. The Mammoth and Lucretia varieties 
are now grown in this State. 

THE CRANBERRY. 

Though some little attention has been given to experi- 
ments with the growth of the cranberry in California, it lias not 

been demonstrated that the cult- 
ure is successful or profitable. 
Cranberries have been produced, 
and the fruit shown at fairs, but 
beyond this nothing has yet been 
accomplished. Mr. H. Nyland, 
an experienced cranberry grower 
from New Jersey, began experi- 
ments on Bouldin Island, in ^ the 
Sacramento River, in 1875. He 
argued theoretically that the tule 
islands were suited to the cran- 
berry, that the expensive opera- 
tion of sanding was not necessary 
in this State where there is no 
frost to "heave" the plants out of 
the ground, etc. Mr. Nyland ex- 
hibited a plant covered with fruit 
at the Mechanics' Fair in San 
An Improved Cranberry. Francisco, a few years ago, but 
since that his enterprise has not claimed public attention. Un- 
til someone shall prove otherwise, the inference will be that 
California conditions do not suit the cranberry. A few wild 
cranberries are shipped to California from Oregon each year, but 
the chief supply is the cultivated fruit from Eastern regions. 

THE CURRANT. 

The currant reaches perfection in size and quality in parts 
of California adapted to its growth, but its area is comparatively 
small. The plant does not thrive in the dry, heated air of the 
interior either at the north or south. It does well near the 
coast, especially in the upper half of the State, and is grown 
for market chiefly, on lands adjacent to and on the east side of 
the Bay of San Francisco. The comparatively cool and moist 
air of the ocean favors it, but even here the sunburn, which is 
the bane of its existence in the interior valleys, occasionally in- 
jures the fruit. Away from the coast currants are grown to a 
limited extent along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, 




4/8 The Currant. 

near their confluence, but not in the hot valleys whence they 
flow. On the foot-hills too, where the plant has a northerly slope, 
or other cooling influence, and sufficiently moist soil, it will do 
moderately well. It is quite possible that the currant may be 
satisfactorily grown for home use, or for local market, in parts of 
the State where at present one does not find it, providing the 
moderating effect of elevation and northerly exposure, coupled 
with the shade of trees, be secured, but even then the hot north 
wind of the early summer may often injure the fruit. So far as 
the metropolitan market is concerned, it does not matter that 
the currant area is limited, for existing plantations produce all, 
and sometimes more, than can be profitably disposed of at 
present. 

Propagation.— The currant is readily grown from cuttings. 
As soon as the bush drops its leaves and the ground is in a con- 
dition, as to moisture, secure the cuttings a foot in length from 
straight wood of the last growth, and place them in nursery or 
in permanent place, in good sandy or garden loam, spaded and 
broken up to a depth of eighteen inches. Set the cutting firmly 
in the earth, six or seven inches deep. If they are to be trained 
as small trees, every bud below where the lo vest limb is to stai t 
should be cut out — even to the end of the cutting under-ground; 
otherwise they will be continually throwing up suckers. If they 
are to grow as bushes, the natural and more productive form of 
the currant, set them as they are taken from the parent bush. 

Planting and Care. — Currants are usually grown in 
rows about five or six feet apart, the plants standing two and a 
half or three feet apart in the rows. Most of the currant plan- 
tations are between orchard rows, the partial shade of the trees 
being considered desirable. It is claimed that currants do best 
when interplanted with cherry, apricot, apple, and pear; not so 
well when associated with plum and peach, and the almond is 
least desirable. The cultivation is such as is usually given to 
the orchard, except that in heavy soil the plow is not allowed to 
come near the cuttings the first season for fear of tearing them 
from their rooting. After the first year the plow is used in the 
winter and the cultivator in summer. 

Currants well repay generous applications of well-rotted 
manure, and relish sufficient moisture in the soil. Where this 
cannot be had from rainfall and retained by cultivation and 
mulching, irrigation must be resorted to. 

Pruning. — If the currant is to be grown in tree-form, the 
branches from the upper buds of the cutting should be shortened 
in at the end of the first summer, and branches growing hori- 



The Gooseberry. 479 

zontally should be removed. The weaker shoots in the head are 
thinned out, but not so much as to leave the top too open. If 
the plant is to grow as a bush, the only wmter pruning will 
consist in removing dead wood and thinning the new shoots as 
may seem desirable. Summer pinching of the new growth is 
desirable, as it causes the fruit to set closely and tends to a thick 
growth of foliage also, and this is necessary, for the bark is lia- 
ble to sunburn, and the best fruit is that which is well sheltered 
by the leaves. Another advantage of the bush form is the less 
likelihood of killing by borers, which is imminent when the growth 
depends upon a single stem. There seems to be, however, a 
different behavior of varieties under different training; the cherry 
currant is thought to do best when systematically pruned, and 
the Fertile de Paluau likes its own way in growth and suckering. 

Bearing. — The currant bears a quantity of excellent fruit 
the second year from the cutting, and reaches its fullest product 
about the fifth to the eighth year, when the yield in the Hay- 
wards region is said to range from one and a half to three tons 
to the acre. 

Varieties. — The Cherry Currant is the prevailing variety, 
although the old sorts, the Red and White Dutch, the Fertile 
Currant of Paluau, the Red and White Grape, etc., are grown in 
some localities, and Fay's Prolific is approved by some growers. 

Black currants are but little grown, the market demand for 
them being very light. 

THE CxOOSEBERRV. 

The gooseberry is another fruit with somewhat circum- 
scribed area in this State. In localities which favor it, the fruit 
is often found very profitable, but the demand does not warrant 
any great increase of product. Though the gooseberry thrives 
in some situations which do not suit the currant, they may both 
be described as averse to the hot and dry parts of the State. 
Still, for home use or local sale one can grow certain varieties of 
gooseberries successfully, by protecting them from too great 
exposure to the sun, and by keeping the soil sufficiently rich and 
moist. The choice of varieties is of the greatest importance, as 
will be mentioned presently. At present the chief supplies of 
the gooseberry, as of the currant, are produced in the country 
adjacent to San Francisco Bay, though thriving and profitable 
plantations are found elsewhere near the coast, here and there in 
the interior, and at considerable elevations on the slope of the 
Sierra Nevada. 

PrOPAGATIOX, Pruning, etc. — The gooseberry is grown 



480 Satisfactory Varieties. 

from cuttings very much as already described for the currant. 
The common and the best method is to start the cuttings early 
in the winter, though some have succeeded with cuttings taken 
in the spring just as the new growth is starting out. Disbud- 
ding the lower part of the cutting if it is desired to train in tree 
form is also practiced with the gooseberry, but a smaller percent- 
age of cuttings is found to grow after disbudding. Concerning 
growing plants from cuttings, W. B. West, of Stockton, who 
has given the subject much attention, says: — 

The English varieties do not propagate as easily as the American. Cuttings of 
the former should be taken from near the ground, and, if they can be found growing 
from under it, all the better. They should be taken from the old plant very early in 
the winter; and, if the ground is not ready for the planting, they should be heeled in 
and kept moist. Layers are more certain to make a plant. If well rooted, they can 
be planted out where they are to remain after one season. The American kinds 
propagate easily from cuttings. 

Gooseberries are planted out and cultivated as already de- 
scribed for currants, and the requirements of the plant in soil, 
moisture, and manuring are much the same. 

If the gooseberry is to be grown in tree form, constant 
attention to removal of suckers is necessary; if in bush form, 
it will only be necessary to remove too old wood and to thin out 
the new shoots. Suckers should be removed clean from the stem, 
so as to eradicate the latent buds, and pulling off with a gloved 
hand, when the suckers become woody enough to withstand 
breaking, is advised. As with the currant, the borer is a con- 
stant menace to the life of a gooseberry plant confined to a 
single stem. 

Diseases and Pests. — The gooseberry is subject to in- 
sect depredation both in wood and fruit and leaf The prevail- 
ing trouble, however, and that which causes the failure of so 
many foreign kinds, is the mildew. To escape this nothing is 
done except to select varieties not subject to the disease. 

Varieties of the Gooseberry. — The American varieties, 
Downing and Houghton's Seedling, chiefly the latter, constituted 
for a long time the main varieties marketed in San Francisco. 
Early experiments with collections of English varieties showed 
that most of them were failures because of mildew, still a few of 
the green and white sorts, notably the Whitesmith, have suc- 
ceeded. The proportion of large berries now being marketed is 
much greater than formerly, and the superior price warrants 
especial effort to produce them. Mr. West condenses his ex- 
perience of thirty years in these words: — 

My first stock was obtained from Hovey & Co., Boston, in 1856; it was as fine 
and complete a collection as could be procured in America, comprising the largest 



The Berkeley Gooseberry. 



481 



and best of all the different kinds, red, yellow, green, and white. It took only a 
short time to determine that the red ones, which are the largest and best in Europe 
were useless here. The Crown Bob, Roaring Lion, and others equally famous 
were of no value to me. I soon discarded all but a few' green kinds, and one white 
variety, the " Whitesmith." These have been propagated and sold largely and al- 
ways gave satisfaction. Thinking that I might learn something more about this 
fruit, I selected in England during my last visit ( 1S78), about twenty of their best 
kinds, some of them red, as in my previous collection. They have shown the same 
characteristics as my previous lot; that is, only a few varieties of the white and 
green are worth growing. They are free from mildew, but the berries are not as 
large as some of the red kinds. 




The Berkeley Goosekerry — a Re-n,\med Variety. 

A large English variety which was brought to California 
many years ago, by the late John W. Dwindle, is now the most 
widely distributed large kind. Its true name was lost, and it 
has been propagated under various names, viz., Dwinelle, 

31 



482 



The Champion Gooseberry 



Kelsey, New French; but the name Berkeley, adopted by W. P. 
HaiMmon, in his wide distribution of it in 1884, now prevails. 
It is large and handsome, very prolific, ripens early, and is usually 
free from mildew. The engraving of this variety which is used 
herewith is from the catalogue of Trumbull & Beebee, of San 
Francisco. 

Recently varieties originating in Oregon have secured dis- 
tribution in California. The Champion, a seedling grown by 
Seth Lewelling, is a leader of the new varieties, and was first 
grown in California by J. D. Smith, of Livermore. The engrav- 
ing, from the catalogue of the California Nursery Co., gives the 
general appearance of the fruit, which is medium sized, very 
smooth and thick-fleshed, the seeds being few and small. They 




The Champion Gooseberry — an Oregon Seedling. 

are entirely free from mildew, and are clean, bright, and beauti- 
ful. 

Another variety is the Puyallup Mammoth, originated b}' J. 
M. Ogle, of Puyallup, Washington, and named by the local F"ruit 
Growers' Association. It is described as large and free from 
mildew, and the bush very prolific. 

THE MULBERRY. 

Nearly all varieties of the mulberry have been introduced 
in California and grown rapidly and thriftily. Most attention 



The Mulberry. 483 

has been paid to those varieties most suitable for feeding silk- 
worms, but the fruiting varieties are also grown here, though the 
fruit has assumed no commercial importance. The mulberry is 
grown readily from cuttings. The fruiting varieties thus far 
chiefly distributed are the Downing Everbearing, the Persian, 
the New American, the Russian, and the Black Mulberry of 




The Black Mulberry as Grown in Californla. 

Spain. All these bear large and desirable fruit. The last- 
named, as fruited by Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, is shown in 
the engraving. 

THE RASPBERRY. 

The raspberry is another of the great small fruits of Cali- 
fornia. It thrives over a great area of the State; in fact, there 
are few situations in which it cannot be grown, if proper attention 
is given to retention of moisture in the surface soil, and to giv- 
ing the plants partial shade in the heated valleys, and the cooler 
exposures in the foot-hills. The raspberry, skillfully pruned and 
generously fed and cared for, is almost a constant bearer, as has 
already been intimated. It is a continual delight in the home 
garden, and always brings a high average rate in local and 
metropolitan markets. 

The culture of the raspberry is in the main like that of the 
blackberry, as already described. The red varieties, which are 
the kinds almost exclusively grown in this State, are propagated 
by suckers and root-cuttings like the blackberry, but the " black 



484 The Raspberry. 

caps" are propagated by layering the cane-tips during the grow- 
ing season. Bending down a cane with its branches and cover- 
ing lightly with soil and with a light mulch to retain moisture, 
will result in free rooting of the buried parts, and one can some- 
times secure a dozen plants by the layering of a single cane 
with its laterals. 

The pruning of the raspberry is also by the renewal system, 
as advised for the blackberry. The topping off of new canes 
when they reach about three feet in height, the subsequent 
pinching of laterals which are thus forced out, the resolute 
thinning out of sprouts so that but three or four strong canes are 
allowed from one root, the faithful repression of all weeds, the 
maintenance of a loose surface layer of the soil by very shallow 
cultivation, the free application of manure and of water unless 
a continually moist condition near the surface can be secured by 
cultivation and mulching — all these are among the essentials of 
cultivation which will secure abundant fruit and a long bearing 
season. However, as has already been stated with regard to 
blackberries, there are large plantations which pursue a less 
careful system of cultivation. 

Continuous bearing of the raspberry may be secured in 
those varieties which endure the treatment, by cutting out a 
cane as soon as its fruit is gathered, the force of the plant 
being then devoted to the fruiting of a second cane, which has 
previously been pinched, and a third shoot is pinched and 
allowed to mature its wood to carry over and bear the first crop 
of the following year. ' A succession of sprouts is gained by 
pinching off the tips of some as soon as they have grown up a 
few inches, which results in the growth of later shoots lower on 
the stems. In this way a succession of fruit is obtained. 

The Cuthbert and other strong-growing varieties, after the 
pinching at about three feet from the ground, will send out 
laterals which will bear late in the fall and the same cane will 
bear a crop early in the following spring, when its career is ended 
and it should be removed. 

Raspberries are planted about three feet apart in the rows 
and the rows about six feet apart. They can be well grown 
nearer together than is required for blackberries. 

Varieties of the Raspberry. — The old standard varieties 
have been largely replaced by the newer kinds. The Red 
Antwerp is retained as an early berry; the Hansel is gaining 
some favor; the Herstine is a leading variety in some of the 
large producing regions supplying the San Francisco market, 
but the Cuthbert is the universally popular and most largely 
planted sort, and the one almost exclusively grown in Southern 



Varieties of the Raspberry. 485 

California, having been found trustworthy- as a grower and as a 
free and constant bearer. The good points of the Cuthbert as 
representing the experience of many CaHfornia growers include 
the following: A profuse grower with healthy and rich foliage, 
which protects fruit from sunburn; an excellent bearer with the 
fruit well distributed through the bush; the fruit comes off easily 
and does not crumble; is of fine flavor and ships well. 

The Black Cap varieties thrive fairly in most parts of the 
State but do not sell well in the markets,- and are only grown for 
home use. The golden or yellow raspberries are also out of 
favor because they are shy bearers and cut no figure in the Cali- 
fornia product. 

A foundling variety' which is now largely grown in the foot- 
hill region, has been named the Barter, and is described by W. 
R. Strong & Co, of Sacramento, as follows: — 

First cultivated, by Mr. William Barter, of Penryn, Placer County. Some 
years ago a friend gave him two raspberry plants; one of them died; and he, having 
discovered the living plant to be a berry of superior variety, propagated it as rapidly 
as possible, and has for several years produced the largest crops of the finest berries. 
It is thought to be a new variety, and the best berry for general cultivation in his 
berry-growing district (out of more than fifty varieties that have been tested). It is 
a very large, red berry, often measuring nearly or quite an inch in diameter, round, a 
little flattened, frees easily from the stem, fine flavor, quite firm, and carries well. It 
grows very large, strong canes, bears heavy and uniform crops. 

Some attention has been paid to improved varieties of our 
native raspberries. Mr. Burbank, of Santa Rosa, has grown 
seedlings from an exceptionally fine plant found in Mendocino 
County, bearing large, sweet blackberries. 

THE STRA\YBERRY. 

" Strawberries all the year round" is the trite expression by 
which the charms of the California climate are characterized. 
It is no fiction, for in the wonderfully even climate of regions 
adjacent to the coast and in thermal belts in the interior, the 
strawberry plant blooms and bears almost continuously, provid- 
ing proper moisture conditions are maintained in the soil. 
There are, however, more or less well-defined crops, and "straw- 
berries all the year" does not mean a uniform supply; nor does 
it mean that everywhere in California can one expect such con- 
stant fruiting. In the very hot interior situations, the plant re- 
bels against the atmospheric conditions of midsummer, even 
though the ground be moist; and in low, frosty places, or at 
elevations on the mountains, the plant becomes dormant during 
the wintry portion of the year. The conditions of constant 
growth and bearing are moderation of temperature and of 
atmospheric and soil moisture throughout the year. Of these 
conditions nature supplies the first two, and the cultivator the 



486 The Strazvberry. 

third, for generous irrigation is the price of a long bearing sea- 
son with the strawberry. 

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE STRAWBERRY. 

Bearing in mind the conditions described, the strawberry 
can be grown anywhere in CaHfornia. The native species, as 
mentioned in Chapter V, flourish "from the sand of the ocean 
beach to the rich valleys of the Sierra, just below the line of 
perpetual snow, and the deduction is that wherever fertile soil 
and sweet water can be brought together in California, the 
strawberry will reward the grower. 

Strawberries do well on a variety of soils, but as a rule 
a deep, moist, loamy soil will yield best results. Boggy or 
swampy spots should be avoided unless drainage is provided, 
and in this way most excellent strawberry ground may some- 
times be secured. Land which will produce good potatoes or 
corn, will generally yield good results with strawberries — with or 
without irrigation, according to local conditions of rainfall, but 
a succession of crops during the season depends upon irrigation, 
as has been stated. It is the common experience that light, 
warm soils yield the earliest and highest flavored berries, and 
heavy soils, the later and larger ones; but the size of the berry 
depends more upon the supply of available moisture, and im- 
mense fruit can be produced on loose, open soils by free irrigation. 
And yet the heavier soil, both because of its usually superior 
fertility and retention of moisture, is preferred for the strawberry. 
The largest producing regions for the San Francisco market in 
the Santa Clara and the Pajaro Valleys, are comprised mainly 
of low-lying, heavy valley soils, naturally moist and rich, and 
furnished with abundant water supply for irrigation. Probably 
no grander berries can be grown anywhere than on our black 
adobe, but let it dry out and the plant might as well be set in a 
stone quarry, so far as summer growth and fruiting are con- 
cerned. 

Propagation of the Strawberry. — Seedlings under- 
taken in the hope of originating valuable new varieties are easily 
grown by taking off" the outside layer of the choicest berries, 
which carries with it the small, yellow seeds. Wash these from 
the skin and cover them slightly in a sandy soil partially shaded 
and kept moist by sprinkling, or a light mulch, and the plants 
are readily grown. As with seedlings of other fruits, ^&\w, if any, 
will be found superior to the parent variety. 

Plants for setting out are secured by taking off the small 
growths rooted from runners. The strongest plants are those 



Irrigation of Strazvberries. 487 

nearest to the parent plant. When these are allowed to root in 
small pots plunged into the soil, they are called " pot-grown," 
and are superior for planting out, but they are not largely used 
in this State. When plants of any variety are desired for new 
beds or fields, a row or more are allowed to send out runners 
during the summer, and these are fit for taking up and replant- 
ing the following winter or spring. 

Laying off Ground for Strawberries. — The essen- 
tials are deep and thorough pulverization of the soil and grad- 
ing of the surface so that water will flow slowly in the ditches. 
Suggestions as to location of grade lines may be found on pages 
210 and 21 1. The inclination which answers for water distribu- 
tion may be very slight; about two inches to the hundred feet 
answers on the level lands of the Pajaro Valley, while in the foot- 
hills much greater fall has to be made use of, and on hillsides rows 
located on contour lines and not in straight lines. A simple 
way to establish grade of three and three-quarter inches to the 
hundred feet is described by I. L. Dickinson, of Tuolumne 
County, as follows: — 

We prepare our ground for strawberries by plowing and grading so as to give a 
fall of about three-eighths of an inch to every ten feet, and in order to do this I made 
a level out of one and one-half by four-inch pine lumber. Take one piece ten feet 
long, and on each end put a leg sixteen inches long, and in the center of the ten-foot 
piece put a spirit level. Then to give the fall, tack on the bottom of one of the legs 
a three-eighth inch block, and when this is set exactly level we have a fall of three- 
eighths of an inch to every ten feet. With this instrument we can run a ditch or lay 
ofiT ground to irrigate around the bend of a hill, or sag, as we choose, and have the 
desired fall, and as correctly as a surveyor's level will do it. 

Of course, in grading the field it is often necessary to give 
adjacent blocks opposite inclinations to provide for the return of 
the water. On hillsides, where the water is carried down a 
ridge to a flume, it is usual to keep the water always running 
away from the flume, and only enough is taken out to reach to 
the ends of the small ditches. A grade of six inches to the rod 
is practicable for hillside irrigation, but of course only a small 
flow of water is employed. 

There are various ways for laying out strawberry beds and 
plantations. Some give flat cultivation and lay out in single 
rows two and a half to three and a half feet apart. Others 
lay out in double rows about two feet apart, and between each 
pair of rows the soil from the center is drawn up to each side, 
making a low ridge or level a little higher than the surface on 
which the plants are set. This levee serves as a walk between 
the beds and holds back the water upon the bed when irrigated 
by flooding. Another, and the generally adopted plan, is to have 
the plants in double rows on a slight ridge, while between the 



488 Planting Straivberries. 

beds is a furrow which serves as a walk and for irrigation. This 
is accomplished by throwing up the soil with the plow into 
ridges about two feet wide, with a double furrow between. On 
the sides of these ridges the plants are set, and often on the top 
of the ridge between the two rows of strawberries a single row 
of onions or lettuce, or some other vegetable, is grown the first 
year. In irrigation the water is drawn up from the trenches by 
the roots and by capillary attraction, and the upper surface does 
not bake as it would by flooding if the soil be heavy. In hoe- 
ing out weeds and in fruit gathering, the workman walks in the 
ditch and does not pack the soil around the plant by tramping. 
This is the best method of laying out for large plantations. 
The rows are a uniform distance apart across the field, whether 
the space between be a ridge or a ditch. The method of mak- 
ing the beds a little lower than the general surface of the ground, 
answers best on free, open soils with perfect drainage. Cultiva- 
tion can be reduced by covering the depressed surface of the 
bed with a mulch of fine, clean litter, such as chaff, cut straw, 
etc. This retains moisture and gives the berry a clean surface 
to rest on. Such a bed is an excellent arrangement for the 
home garden. 

In all arrangements the plants are set at less distances in 
the rows than the rows are from each other. Probably the pre- 
vailing distance is one foot between the plants; the range is from 
eight to eighteen inches in the practice of different growers, 
and determined, of course, largely by the habit of the variety. A 
vine like the Sharpless, with a spreading growth and long fruit 
stems, needs, perhaps, the sixteen inches which some growers give 
it, while the smaller, more compact, Longworth Prolific, may do 
well with half that distance, as this variety is commonly planted 
in the Santa Clara District, where it is still a favorite. 

Planting Strawberries. — Strawberry plants are set 
out either in spring or fall, or at any time in the winter when the 
ground is warm and in good condition. In the drier parts of 
the State, early fall or winter planting is more essential than 
elsewhere. If the ground is dry, water should always be used 
in planting. This may be given by thorough irrigation of the 
ground before planting, or a little water may be used in setting 
each plant. At planting it is usually best to remove all leaves 
from the plant, shorten the roots to three inches or less, and be 
sure the plants do not dry while planting progresses. As with 
handling rooted grape-vines, it is advisable to carry around the 
plants in a vessel which has water in it. If plants have been 
received by mail, they are invigorated by soaking in water a few 
hours before planting. 



Care of the Straivberry. 489 

In setting the plants, scoop out a little excavation with the 
hand or a trowel, spread the roots well, cover with fine soil, being 
sure that the crown of the plant shall not be below the surface 
when the soil is leveled. Too many strawberry plants are 
buried, not planted. Some plant very rapidly by using a dibble 
to make a hole into which the roots are dropped and soil pressed 
around them by using the dibble alongside; others set the plants 
on the side of the furrow, trusting to the next furrow to com- 
plete the covering. Nearl}' all ways succeed if the plant is not 
set too deeply and the ground is moist at planting and not 
allowed to dry out afterwards — providing good, strong plants 
are used. In buying plants it is often poor economy to buy the 
cheapest. 

StAxMINATE and Pistillate. — In associating varieties be 
sure that pistillate varieties are not set by themselves. Some 
sorts have perfect flowers and are self-fertilizing; others have 
only the pistillate element in the bloom and must have the 
staminate adjacent in another variety. All the varieties largely 
grown in California have perfect flowers, though some pistillate 
sorts have been locally approved. 

Care of the Strawberry Plantation. — Herein lies 
the secret of success with the strawberry. Neglect has led to 
disappointment and condemnation of the strawberry, where 
intelligent care would have rendered it a constant delight. The 
chief elements of proper care may be thus enumerated: 

Retention of moisture very near the surface by careful, 
shallow cultivation or b}^ mulching, persistent destruction of 
weeds, and by compensating for summer evaporation by frequent 
irrigation. 

Constant removal of runners from all plants except those 
it is desired to multiply to furnish new plants or to fill the rows. 
Pinching of runners should always accompany picking or hoe- 
ing of weeds, and on the garden bed there can be no excuse for 
neglect in this respect. The young plants should be faithfully 
freed from runners to strengthen them up for bearing. 

Though, as already stated, strawberries may in some loca- 
tions be had all winter, it is better practice, as a general rule, to 
lay the plants away for a rest. The market season in the 
regions supplying the San Francisco market extends from April 
to December, and fruit is continuously shipped during that 
period. At the approach of winter in the last-named month, it 
is usual to go over the beds with a sickle cutting off the old crop 
of leaves close to the root-crown, carefully cleaning up the plan- 
tation for the heavy rains. In most cases it will be a great 



490 The Popular Straivberries. 

advantage then to cover over all with a light coat of good 
manure, which the winter rains will leach down into the soils. 
The result of the fall clipping and enriching will be an early 
and strong start of the plant in the spring, and a most abundant 
fruitage. 

Duration of the Plantation. — Strawberry plants 
well cared for and not visited by insect pests, have a long, pro- 
ductive, and profitable life in California. Twelve-year-old plants 
at Santa Clara have been reported as still producing abundantly. 
It is customary to count from five to eight years as the profit- 
able life of a plant. 

Varieties of the Strawberry. — Though all new 
varieties are tried by California growers, and quite a number 
may be considered successful either for market or for home use, 
only a very few may be said to be widely grown. The three 
kinds which are pre-eminent in public favor are the Longworth 
Prolific, the Sharpless, and the Monarch of the West. The 
Sharpless is the most widely grown; the Monarch shows better 
size and color in Southern California and on the Sierra foot-hills 
than in the regions adjacent to San Francisco, although it is 
grown therein to some extent. The Longworth is an old favor- 
ite, early, productive, and hardy, and its style has become very 
popular in the markets. Wilson's Albany also holds favor in 
same. The Cinderella is largely grown in the Pajaro Valley. 
The Triomphe de Gand is approved in several counties, and 
about a dozen others might be mentioned as locally commended. 
It has been demonstrated that varieties show marked difference 
in behavior in different soils and situations. In planting for 
market or home use in new regions the planter will be safe in 
making his largest plantations of the varieties named above, and 
at the same time he should put out experimental plots of other 
varieties. The strawberry grower should continually maintain 
experimental culture; if he succeeds in getting one good variety 
for his locality, out of dozens of new sorts he may try, the effort 
will be profitable. In planting in established strawberry regions, 
secure the best available local advice, consulting a number of 
growers and forming decision from such evidence. 



Part Seventh: Nuts. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

NUT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 

The production of nuts has not yet risen to great promi- 
nence in this State. Though plantations of almonds and 
English walnuts were made quite early there were many disap- 
pointments in thrift and fruitfulness, traceable in most cases, 
perhaps, to the planting of defective varieties, or those unsuited 
to the locations chosen for them. The result has been that 
while some plantings have been notably successful and profitable, 
others have been counted failures, the English walnut trees 
going for firewood, and the almonds which did not take the 
same course being grafted over, chiefly into prunes and plums. 
Other nuts than these, except peanuts, have never attained 
great acreage, although, as will be shown, several have succeeded 
and promise to become popular. 

The walnut has thus far only been produced in large 
quantities in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties, 
and the product for 1888 was about one million pounds. The 
almond product, which in 1888 amounted to about five hundred 
thousand pounds, was grown in central California. The failures 
of the almond at the South, and of the walnut at the North, 
seem now to be probably, in part at least, due totheunsuitability of 
the varieties which were tried, and not to lack of adaptation of the 
regions to the species. As other varieties of both nuts are now 
promising well, it is expected that the product of each will 
greatly increase in the future. Both our walnuts and almonds 
have won favor in Eastern markets. 

THE ALMOND. 

The almond has an interesting history in California, but it 
can be outlined in a few sentences. The importation of the 
best European varieties began very early and a number of them 
had been planted in 1853. They proved irregular bearers, 
though the trees grew thriftily and in some cases showed fruit 
very soon after planting. Still the importation and trial of 

(491) 



492 Situations and Soils for the Almond. 

varieties continued. Some were found satisfactory in some 
places but not in others. The conclusion was then reached that 
to secure regularity and abundance in fruiting, locations for 
almond orchards must be sought with the utmost care, and that 
the secret of success lay in the location. Within the last decade 
local seedlings have demonstrated their value in regular crops, 
and in characteristics and qualities superior to foreign kinds. 
They have proved profitable in situations where the Languedoc, 
the variety formerly most widely planted, is untrustworthy. 
The experience of the last thirty-live years then gives the basis 
for which present planting is proceeding, viz., that the choice of 
soil and situation, and the selection of trustworthy varieties, are 
both factors of success, but that possibly more lies in the choice 
of variety than of location, for the newer varieties are succeed- 
ing in situations which had been pronounced unsuited to the 
almond. 

Another fact which is likely to be of importance, though at 
present made but little use of, is that the Languedoc proves a 
better bearer if other varieties are grown with it, that it may 
enjoy the cross-fertilization of its blooms. The importance of 
association of varieties in this respect is being discerned in the 
behavior of some other kinds of fruit as well as almonds, but as 
yet it does not enter largely into planters' consideration. 

Situations and Soils for the Almond. — Almonds 
are now being planted on the higher lands in coast valleys, free 
from fogs and protected from direct winds, but subject to tem- 
pered breezes; also at various points in the interior valleys and 
foot-hills. Because of the superior hardiness and fruiting of 
new local varieties, as has already been described, it is impossi- 
ble at present to state definitely what situations will ultimately 
prove desirable or otherwise. The general proposition that low 
lands in small valleys should be avoided, and bench or hillside 
situations preferred, seems to be a safe one. 

The almond prefers a loose, light, warm soil, and heavy, 
poorly drained soils should be avoided. Mr. A. T. Hatch, of 
Suisun Valley, the largest almond planter in the State, says : 
"The almond will not grow in the water nor do well in a heavy, 
poorly drained place, but will flourish and produce good crops 
on soils that are too light or dry to grow peaches, apricots, 
nectarines, cherries, or similar pulpy fruit. Almonds will make 
better returns from leaner lands than any other product, except 
it may be vines, olives, or figs." 

Propagating, Planting and Pruning. — The almond 
is propagated from seedlings grown as described on page 99, and 



Care of Trees and Product. 493 

budded as described on page 105. The almond root is preferred, 
though the peach answers well. The apricot root should be 
avoided for the reasons mentioned on page 250. 

For planting out, trees in dormant bud are very successful 
if given proper care, as is described on page 290. Yearling 
trees do well, and usually those which have made. a moderate in- 
stead of a very large growth are to be preferred. The almond makes 
a comparatively large tree and should have plenty of room — 
not less than twenty-four feet apart, though some plantations 
are made at twenty feet. 

The pruning of the almond is very simple. The tree should 
be headed low and pruned during the first three years, as 
described in Chapter XII, to secure a shapely, strong tree. 
After the third year little pruning is required except to thin out 
objectionable branches by winter pruning. 

The cultivation of the almond orchard is the same as com- 
mended for other fruit trees, and as the trees are often planted 
in naturally dry soils, the greater care in cultivation is needed to 
retain sufficient moisture to give good size to the nuts. In 
certain locations, of course, irrigation will be necessary, but 
usually very light rainfall will answer if good cultivation is 
given. 

Gathering, Hulling, and Bleaching. — Almonds are 
gathered by spreading canvas under the tree and shaking the 
branches separately; the few nuts remaining can be displaced by 
striking with a light stick. The gathering should be done after 
the hulls have burst open, but should not be delayed until the 
nuts are badly discolored. 

Hulling is done with a machine manufactured by A. O. 
Rix, of Irving, Alameda County, according to a plan suggested 
by Henry Curter, a large almond grower of Harrisburg. It 
consists of a grooved iron roller and a set of bars arranged with 
reference to the roller, as the concave is to the cylinder of a 
threshing machine. Each of these bars is supported behind by a 
spring at each end, so that each works independently of the 
other and yields a little if an extra large nut strikes it. At 
first the concave bars were set solid and the result was the break- 
ing of many nuts, but supporting them by the springs overcomes 
this completely and hardly any nuts are broken. The machine 
runs by hand crank, and requires but little effort to hull a sack 
in two or three minutes. The roller and concave bars are six- 
teen inches in length, but the same principle could be applied to 
a large machine to run by horse-power or steam. 

Bleaching is apparently demanded by market requirements. 
Sulphur is used and should not be applied until the nut is thor- 



494 Bleacliing Ah)ionds. 

oughly dry, or else the fumes will penetrate it, and not only 
spoil its flavor, but if used to excess will destroy its germinating 
power. The nuts are dried by exposure to sun on platforms or 
trays, and in dewy places should be covered during the night. 
After being well dried, sprinkle the nuts sufficiently to moisten 
the shell-surface and apply sulphur fumes. Various home-made 
contrivances are used for bleaching, such as piling up several of 
the slat-bottom tray's one upon another, placing around them 
sides made of boards so as to hook together at the corners, cover 
the top with a damp canvas, and burn the sulphur in a hole in 
the ground below the bottom tray. Care should be taken to 
burn the sulphur without much fire, so as to avoid high heating. 
The sulphur fumes are applied until the nuts are of a light yel- 
lowish color; the proper shade is to be learned by securing 
approved samples from some trustworthy dealer. 

Desirable Points in Tree and Nut. — Mr. Hatch 
says: " Almonds, to pay the grower, should bear well every 
year, hull easily, have clean, thin, soft shells, and a smooth, 
bright and plump kernel. They do better out of the fog than 
in it. Almonds with long single kernels are preferred in general 
to those which have double ones." A part of these character- 
istics are due to variety, and part to locality. Situations with 
excessive atmospheric moisture seem to favor adherence of the 
hull or discoloration of the shell, but some of the new seedlings 
are practically free from these objections, even where the older 
varieties exhibit them. Some of the new varieties are also 
claimed to be less liable to injury by red spider, which is a great 
pest of the almond generally. 

Varieties of the Almond Originated in California. 
— The leading propagator of new almonds is A. T. Hatch, of 
Suisun, and his varieties have attained such prominence that the 
following account of their origin is given. In 1878, Mr. Hatch 
planted out about two thousand five hundred seedling almond 
trees grown from bitter almond seed. He afterward budded all 
the seedlings but about three hundred, which were left to bear- 
ing age unbudded. The fruit of these seedlings was of all de- 
grees of excellence. A collection of them was shown at the 
New Orleans Exposition, where a premium was secured. At 
the Citrus Fair in Sacramento, in 1886, Mr. Hatch showed one 
hundred and ninety-two varieties. Of the vast numbers of dis- 
tinct varieties secured, four have been selected for propagation, 
viz., the " IXL," " Ne Plus Ultra," " Nonpareil," and " El 
Supremo." The nuts have sold in Chicago at exceptionally 
high prices, and careful tests of the weight of the kernels as 



Popular Varieties of the Almond. 495 

compared with the gross pound of the nuts of several kinds gav^e 
this result: Imported Tarragona, six and one-fifth ounces of 
kernels; California Languedoc, seven and one-half ounces; 
Hatch's Nonpareil, 11 ounces; Hatch's El Supremo, thirteen 
ounces. 

Excellent seedling almonds have also been produced by 
other growers. The following list includes the sorts most 
widely grown: — 

IXL. — "Tree a sturdy, rather upright grower, with large leaves; nuts large, 
with, as a rule, single kernels; hulls easily, no machine being needed, nor is any 
bleaching necessary; shell soft, but perfect. It bears heavily and regularly." — A. T. 
Hatch. 

Ne Plus Ultra. — Large and very long in shape; heavy and regular bearer; 
soft shell; hull free. 

Nonpareil. — First called Extra. Of a weeping style of growth, smaller foliage 
than the IXL, but still forms a beautiful tree. An extraordinarily heavy and regular 
bearer, with very thin shell, of the Paper Shell type. 

Lewelling's Prolific. — Originated with the late Mr. John Lewelling; "tree a 
great bearer; of drooping habit; nut large and good; soft shell; hull free." — Leoiiai'd 
Coates. 

Harriott's Seedlins (or Commercial). — A new variety from Visalia, where 
it is said to be a sure cropper; shell softer than the Languedoc; nut long, of peculiar 
shape, quite large; kernel sweet. 

King's Soft Shell. — Originated in San Jose; shell very thin and soft; 
regular and abundant bearer. 

Languedoc. — Nut large; shell thin; kernel sweet. 

Paper Shell. — Medium size; shell very tender, easily broken between the fin- 
ger and thumb; kernel large, white and sweet. 

Drake's Seedling. — Originated with Mr. Drake, of Suisun; of the Langue- 
doc class, very prolific, and a regular, abundant bearer. 

Brier's Languedoc. — Originated with the late Rev. W. W. Brier, Center- 
ville; medium size, soft, light-colored shell; sweet and delicate flavor; good bearer; 
blossoms resist quite severe frosts. 

McCoy. — Originated near Suisun; rather small and hull adheres, but a regular 
bearer. 

Routier's New Languedoc. — A new seedling from J. Routier's orchard near 
Sacramento; facsimile of Languedoc, except that the shell is a little softer; tree 
moderately strong grower and prolific. 

Routier's Soft Shell.— Shell quite soft, but not soft enough to crumble; 
tree moderately strong grower, very prolific. 

Routier's Twin Almond.— Large, smooth nuts, all with double kernels; 
shell soft as Languedoc; tree hardy and a good bearer. 

Blowers' Languedoc— Grown by R. B. Blowers, of Woodland; fine nut; 
tree good and regular bearer. 

Golden State.— Originated in Oakshade orchard, Davisville, and described 
by Webster Treat as a large, soft shell, somewhat longer than the Languedoc, with 
a full, smooth-skinned meat; it parts from the hull readily, and, if left on the tree, 
drops out of itself. It ripens four or five weeks earlier than the Languedoc and the 
Tarragona. 



496 



The Cliestmit in California. 



THE CHESTNUT. 



The chestnut is not yet produced in large amount in Cali- 
fornia, and certain quantities of the nuts are annually imported, 
the American, Italian, or Spanish and Japanese all being found 
in the San Francisco markets. Of chestnuts grown in California, 




The Japanese Chestnut. 

the Italian predominates, and the Japanese is more common 
than the American, which is slow of growth and late in fruiting, 
as compared with the other kinds. Judging by the success of 
the Italian, it may be said that a large area of California is well 
suited for the growth of the chestnut, as there are bearing trees 



Culture of the Chestmit. 



497 



in nearly all parts of the State. The chestnut succeeds on 
heavy, clayey soil, even if it be quite rocky. In Berkeley a 
tree six years from the seed attained a height of fifteen feet and 
bore staminate blooms. 

Chestnut trees are readily grown from the seed, and thus 
grown come into bearing in from six to eight years, though the 
Japanese sometimes bears sooner. The growth of chestnuts 
from the seed is described on page lOO. In growing from seed 
of the improved varieties, there is a tendency toward reversion, 
and budding and grafting m.ay be resorted to; budding is done 
by the ring method, as described on page 406. The chestnut 
can also be grafted with the ordinary cleft graft. Buds or scions 
should be taken from trees which are fruiting satisfactorily, and 
in this way seedlings which have a tendency to bear empty burs 
can be turned to good account. Chestnuts can be grown in the 
nursery until several years old, providing they are lifted at the 
end of the first year, the tap-root cut off, and the trees reset, 
giving them rather more room than during their first year's 
growth. In permanent plantings the trees should have plenty 
of room, as they ultimately attain great size. Mr. R. G. Sneath 
reports seeing trees at Grass Valley, Nevada County, about 
twenty years old, which are fifteen inches in diameter of trunk, 
and forty feet high, and reported to be bearing a barrel of nuts 

to the tree regularly. Felix Gillct, 
of Nevada City, has for many years 
made a specialty of propagating a 
large collection of the improved 
French varieties of the chestnut, 
known as Marrons, the two en- 
gravings given herewith being of 
nuts grown in California. 

The chestnut, aside from its de- 
sirability as an orchard tree, can be 
commended as a tree for hillsides 
or a shade tree for waysides or 
Marron Combale. pastures, and should be more 

widely planted in California. 




THE FILBERT. 

Improved Spanish and French varieties of the Filbert were 
early introduced into California by Felix Gillet, of Nevada 
City, and have been favorably reported by him as to growth and 
bearing. A collection of the best English cob-nuts was intro- 
duced by Leonard Coates and planted in the Napa Valley, 

32 



498 



The Filbert in California. 



where their bearing was not satisfactory. The experience of 
Mr. Coates is like that of other growers in the valleys, which so 
far as known to the writer is un- 
favorable to the planting of the 
nut, because of failure to bear 
well-filled nuts. As stated on 
page 59, the success of the 
proposition tograftthe improved 
filberts upon our wild hazel-nut, 
has not been demonstrated. It 
is possible, however, that the im- 
proved varieties might do bet- 
ter if planted on the north slopes 
of the Coast Range, and in other Marron de Lyon. 

cooler and moister situations, as well as at an elevation on 
the Sierra foot-hills, where Mr. Gillet pronounces them satis- 
factory. Failure to fruit is, however, the common verdict, even 
in what would seem to be favorable situations. The nuts pro- 
duced by Mr. Gillet, of which engravings are given, are certainly 
of high excellence, and they would be profitable if trustworthy 
crops can be secured. 

The choice filberts are prapagated by suckers, or layers, or 
by grafting on seedling roots. The seedlings revert to the wild 

Du Chilly. 




Red A\iiline. 





Piedmont. 






Improved European Filberts Grown in California. 

type and are also slower in bearing. Of the varieties shown, 
the Red Aveline is a delicious nut which Mr. Gillet has fruited 
for sixteen years and finds most prolific of his collection; the 
Du Chilly is the largest nut he has grown, and the Piedmont is 
also prolific and excellent. The filbert commends itself to 
experimenters, that its adaptations may be better determined. 

THE PEANUT. 

Comparatively few peanuts are grown in California, though 
the whiteness and size of the nut and the rarity of "pops," or 



Peaiiut and Pecan. 



499 



empty shells, certify the excellence of the California product. 
The crop is almost exclusively grown by Chinese, and the chief 
producing regions are in the upper part of the Sacramento 
Valley; and mellow, sedimentary soil, rich, deep, and moist, 
and well adapted to vegetable growing, is chosen for the peanut. 
But peanuts are grown to some extent in other parts of the 
State, and any mellow soil, either naturally moist or furnished 
with irrigation facilities, will yield satisfactory results. The 
culture is simple. Procure raw peanuts plump and well filled, 
shell out the kernels carefully without breaking the skin, and 
plant in the month of March, in well-prepared ground, three or 
four kernels in each hill, the hills about two feet apart in the 
row and the rows three to four feet apart. The depth of bury- 
ing the seed is from two to four inches, depending upon the soil, 
the lighter and drier the deeper it is covered. Good cultivation 
must be given to remove weeds and retain moisture, but care 
must be taken not to tear out the fruiting stems which enter the 
ground after the blossom is fertilized and there form the fruit. 
This under-ground fruiting is, of course, facilitated by mellowness 
of the surface. When irrigation is used, it is customary to 
apply water soon after the plants appear above the ground, and 
more or less frequently thereafter, for though the plant will 
thrive with a small amount of water, the size of the nuts will be 
determined by the supply of moisture, either natural or artificial. 

The manner of cultivation of the peanut depends upon the 
habit of growth of the variety planted ; if bushy, the soil should 
be thrown up around the plants while in bloom by a light furrow 
turned up on each side of the row; if of vine-like habit, it should 
be given flat culture and no hilling. Throwing earth upon the 
top of the plant is unnecessary. 

Peanuts planted in March usually ripen in September or 
October. The soils and plants are loosened by running a furrow 
on each side of the row with a bull-tongue plow, and then tak- 
ing out plants with a light hoe or spading fork, the nuts adher- 
ing to the stems. Nuts are allowed to dry in the sun and are 
then picked off by hand, though in growing on a large scale 
proper threshing machinery can be used. 

THE PECAN. 

The pecan, by rapid growth, early fruiting, and general 
thrift, seems to be the member of the hickory family best fitted for 
California conditions. A tree of the shell-bark hickory grown 
from a nut planted by J. R. Wolfskill, on Putah Creek, in 1865, 
attained a height of about twenty feet in 1888, and bore a itw 
nuts in 1886; a pecan tree from a nut planted in 1878 was, in 



500 The Pistachio. 

1888, more than twice the size of the hickory, though much less 
than half its age, and had borne two or three crops of nuts. 

The pecan has been grown for a number of years merely in 
an experimental way, and trees can be found in many parts of 
the State; the largest trees known to the writer are on Rancho 
Chico, and have attained a height of about fifty feet. As yet, 
California has no marketable product of pecans to speak of, but 
within the last few years larger plantations have been made. 

Pecan trees grow readily from the nuts if these are fresh. 
Planters should secure nuts of selected varieties (for there is a 
great difference in size and quality) direct from growers in the 
Southern States, and plant as soon as received in the early winter, 
or if conditions are not favorable for planting, the nuts should 
be stored as described on page 100. Nuts planted in good 
nursery ground in rows as suggested on page 103, and covered 
about two inches or a little deeper in dry, loose soil, and then 
mulched to retain moisture, will germinate freely. The trees 
should be transplanted to permanent place at the end of the 
first year, and then usually the tap-root can be retained, as some 
growers deem very desirable; if the trees are to be put in per- 
manent place later, they should be transplanted in the nursery 
and the tap-root cut off. The nuts can, of course, be planted at 
once in permanent place if one will take the extra trouble 
necessary to properly care for them. 

The pecan usually comes into bearing in California at from 
eight to ten years from the seed, and so far as experience goes, 
bears regular and satisfactory crops. 

THE PISTACHIO. 
The pistachio nut {pistachia vera) has been grown experi- 
mentally in this State for several years. The species upon its 
own root makes a low shrub and is very slow of growth. We 
have also imported the pistachia tcrehintJiiis, from which is de- 
rived the "chio turpentine," and which is the stock upon which 
the true pistachio is grafted in Europe. It is a very hardy tree, 
the largest specimens probably being on the Rixford ranch, in 
the Sonoma Valley, where they have attained a height of twelve 
to fifteen feet on a heavy adobe soil without irrigation. Nuts 
have been produced and will be used to grow stocks for the true 
pistachio. The pistachios are dioecious and need association of 
staminate and pistillate trees, about one of the former to twenty 
of the latter. It seems likely that erelong a commercial prod- 
uct of pistachios may be attained in California. 

THE WALNUT. 
The qualities of the native black walnut are mentioned on 



English Walnut in California. 501 

page 58. The American black walnut has been introduced but 
does not seem to relish the conditions so well as the local species. 
The nut which is signified in California when the term walnut is 
used, is the English walnut or Madeira nut (Jnglans regid) and 
its many varieties. 

This tree makes a grand growth in California. Specimens 
can be found here and there, which at about twenty years of 
age are from fifty to sixty feet in height, with a spread of 
branches of forty to sixty feet, and in some cases bearing four 
to eight hundred pounds of nuts. Such trees can be found in 
the rich valleys of both Northern and Southern California, but, 
as has already been stated, the English walnut has thus far been 
produced in large quantities only in regions adjacent to the 
coast in Southern California, though there are promising planta- 
tions farther removed from coast influences. The equable tem- 
perature of the Southern coast seems, however, to specially favor 
the nut. The variety chiefly grown at the South, and which for 
want of a better name has been called the "Los Angeles Seed- 
ling," suffers both from frost and sunburn in the interior valleys, 
and from frost in Northern coast valleys as well. A number of 
French varieties, which were introduced many years ago and 
have been widely enough distributed to test their growth, have 
been found to thrive in many situations where the Los Angeles 
variety is a failure. There is not, however, at present any dis- 
position to large plantings of the walnut, though the trees are 
being continually put in in small groups, or as border trees 
around fruit orchards. At the South the walnut area is gradually 
increasing in those situations where the tree shows most satis- 
factory bearing qualities. This should always be the test by 
which large plantings are determined, but still for home use 
suitable varieties of the English walnut should be given place 
on most valley and foot-hill farms. 

Soils for the Walnut. — -The walnut makes most 
rapid growth upon a deep, rich, moist, loamy soil, and shows its 
appreciation of good things of the earth as do other. fruit trees, 
and yet it attains satisfactory size and bearing in less favorable 
situations. Thriving trees can be found in the clays and decom- 
posed granite soils of the foot-hills as well as in the valley silts 
and loams. Adequate moisture must, however, be had, and the 
walnut cannot be commended for dry, neglected places. 

Propagation. — The walnut tree grows readily from nuts 
treated as described on page 100 and following pages. In the 
main the use of seedlings prevails, and the nut is usually con- 
sidered to come true from seed. Excellent results have, how- 



502 Propagating and Planting the Wabmt. 

ever, been obtained by using the California black walnut as a 
stock for the English walnut, and in that case budding or graft- 
ing must be resorted to. Many instances of the success of the 
English walnut on our native stock might be cited, but the most 
notable tree known to the writer, is to be seen on the grounds of 
John R. Wolfskin, on Putah Creek, in Solano County. He put 
in a bud in 1875 and growth started the following year. In 1888 
the tree was about fifty feet high and sixty feet in spread of 
branches, and bearing two hundred pounds of nuts annually. 

In working on the native California seedling stocks, Mr. 
Clowes, of Stockton, buds by the common method, removing the 
v/ood from the inside of the plate of bark, as advised for the orange 
on page 444. Twig buds as used with the olive (see page 420) 
are also successful, and ring budding (see page 406) works well. 

Mr. Gillet's latest conclusions concerning annular budding 
of the walnut is that it should be done upon shoots of a year's 
growth, and those which have at least attained the thickness of 
the middle finger. The buds should also be set at the base of 
these shoots where the wood is perfectly round. The bandage 
should pass above and below the bud so that the bark under it 
may be pressed down close upon the stock, and this is more 
surely gained by shaving off the base of the leaf-stem, below 
the bud, about to the point where it would separate when the 
leaf naturally falls off. 

Large walnut trees can be worked over either by budding or 
grafting. If by budding, the large limbs are cut back in the winter, 
and in August following, ring buds are put on as many of the 
new shoots as may be desired. In grafting, the common cleft 
graft is used, but the split should not be made through the pith, 
but at one side; the scions should be whittled so as to show as 
little pith as possible. This is done by cutting down to a point 
at one side and not in the center of the scion. Care should be 
taken to cover all exposed surfaces. Grafting over in this way 
is desirable either for substituting a better variety of English 
walnut, or for working over a California black walnut into an 
English variety. 

Planting Walnut Orchaj^ds. — There is much differ- 
ence in practice in planting out walnut trees in permanent place. 
Some advocate the use of trees two or three years from the 
seed, getting as much of the tap-root as possible ; others allow 
the tree to remain in nursery until it throws out laterals, which 
is usually done the fourth or fifth year. The extreme practice is 
that of Russell Heath, of Santa Barbara County, who does not 
transplant from nursery until the tree has attained bearing age, 



Pruning the Walnut. 503 

at eight years or more from the seed, and he has successfully 
moved ten and eleven-year-old trees, trenching all around the 
trees, at two and a half feet from the stem, to a depth of four feet, 
and cutting back to eight or nine feet high, removing all 
laterals. This is an expensive operation, costing perhaps three 
times as much as transplanting three-}'ear-old trees, but Mr. 
Heath advocates it because of the saving in the cheapness with 
which trees can be properly cultivated in nursery up to bearing 
age as compared with the cost of cultivating orchard. This 
wide difference in local experience shows that the walnut may 
be safely transplanted at almost any age if the work is carefully 
done. The distance at which walnut trees are set is usually forty 
feet in squares, though some give the larger growing vari ties 
fifty feet. 

Inter-cultures with the Walnuts. — In the Southern 
walnut regions it is common to grow beans, squashes, etc., be- 
tween the rows of trees until the latter reach bearing age; root 
crops which attract gophers should be avoided. Inter-planting 
of smaller, early-fruiting trees is also advisable, as mentioned on 
page 121. 

Pruning the Walnut. — The walnut is usually headed 
higher than ordinary orchard trees. All the pruning needed is 
in shaping the tree as described for the fig on page 408. Up- 
ward trend of the branches should be secured, sometimes by 
cutting out the shoots which grow downward, sometimes by 
propping them up for a time. Mr. Elwood Cooper says: — 

During the first years constant pruning is necessary to have the tree properly 
shaped. I have pruned in a summer as many as four or five times. Branches are 
apt to grow too rapidly, bear down with their own weight, and breaking off during 
high winds, destroy the symmetry of the tree, and occasion much loss of time. All 
lateral branches growing from the leader should be cultivated to assume an upward 
angle from the main leader of about fifteen to forty- five degrees. This can be done 
by clipping off all branches growing under, and at times cut off the ends. A trunk 
should be maintained free from limbs five and a half to six feet from the ground. 

The stem should be protected from sunburn until the foliage 
accomplishes this. Whenever shoots are killed back by sunburn 
or by frost, they should be cut off cleanly below the black mark 
which shows how far the injury has extended. If this is done, the 
die-back down the branch is prevented. 

Bloom and Bearing of the Walnut. — The walnut 
has its staminate and pistillate blooms separate, but both occur 
on the same tree, as shown by the engraving of a twig with both 
associated. All the buds marked a are staminate, and will 



504 



Walnut Blossoms. 



develop into catkins, shown in Fig. 2. The terminal buds /; are 
pistillate and will develop into embryo nuts, each bearmg a 



b 









Fig. I. Staminate and Pistillate Buds of 
THE Walnl"!'. 



Fig. 2. Catkin OF THE 
Walnut. 
little branched plume-like pistil, as shown 
in "Fig. 3. The bud marked c in Fig. i 
is a leaf bud. 

Successful fruiting depends upon the 
simultaneous appearance of these two 
forms of bloom, and the lack of bearing 
of some varieties has been found to be due 
to the fact that the catkins disappeared 
before the pistillate bloom was sufficiently 
developed to receive the pollen. 

The bearing age of the walnut depends 
upon the variety. Some of the French 
varieties now grown here are very pre- 
cocious and have borne fruit in nursery row at two and three 
years old, but the pistillate blooms were then fertilized from 
catkins growing on older trees. The practical bearing age of 
the English walnut in this State may be rated at six to eight 
years, according to the variety. 

Gathering walnuts is done in different ways; some gather 
them from the ground at intervals during the months of Sep- 




FlG. 



Pistils and Em- 
RRYO Nuts. 



Gathering and Drying Walnuts. 505 

tember and October; others use poles and clean the trees 
at one operation; some go over the ground three times, first, 
picking up what have fallen; second, picking up what have fal- 
len and striking the limbs lightly to dislodge others which are 
ripest; third, picking up again and then knocking off all that re- 
main on the trees. In this way gathering lasts a month or six 
weeks. Walnuts after gathering are sometimes washed to re- 
move dirt, etc., but in all cases are subjected to a drying process 
before storing. This is done by exposure to the sun, or in a 
drier. Mr. Joseph Sexton, of Santa Barbara, uses elevated 
platforms made of narrow boards, with spaces of one-fourth of 
an inch between each board. The platform should be about 
eight feet wide and forty feet long, or as long as two men can 
handle a canvas to cover the beds, which should be done every 
night the dew falls. The nuts are stirred once or twice each day, 
and with favorable weather they will dry sufficiently in three 
days. For drying on a large scale near the coast, an artificial 
drier is found desirable by Mr. Heath, of Carpenteria, who has 
an apparatus of large capacity in which he dries his walnuts 
sufficiently by eight hours' exposure to the heat. 

Walnuts sometimes have to be bleached to suit customers. 
The process is the same as has been described for almond bleach- 
ing, and is open to the same objections. 

Varieties of the Walnut. — Of walnuts of California 
origin, there are two classes, which are called " hard" and " soft " 
shell, and there is some difference of opinion as to their com- 
parative value. Mr. Heath protests against the term " hard 
shell," and describes them as "medium shell" and "soft shell," 
and maintains the superiority of the former. Others are just as 
firm in advocacy of the soft shell, and it has the advantage in 
point of popularity, being now much more largely propagated 
by Southern California nurserymen. Several varieties of French 
walnuts are now being widely distributed. An attempt will be 
made to give some of the distinctive points of each variety men- 
tioned: — 

Common English Walnut ; Los Angeles mit, etc, — This is the ordinary 
English wahiut of commerce. It was planted at an early day in Los Angeles County, 
and has been widely distributed. It is considered by Mr. Russel Heath, of Santa 
Barbara County, as more desirable than thinner-shell kinds, because the shell is not 
too thick to be broken with the fingers, and firm enough to avoid breakage in ship- 
ping. It comes into bearing at eight years of age, and in certain situations bears 
abundantly. Its behavior elsewhere is described by Mr. W. B. West, as follows: 
"The Los Angeles seedling is a very unreliable tree, only giving fruit under the most 
favorable circumstances in Northern California; it grows very thriftily when young, 
but does not ripen its wood sufficiently to withstand the severe winters that we some- 
times have, and if, by chance, a series of mild seasons follow the planting, and the 
tree attain a good size, it is unfruitful, and seldom pays for the room it occupies.' 



5o6 Popular Varieties of the Walnut. 

Even at the South, as already stated, this variety is being rejected Ly planters in 
favor of thj soft shell, which is claimed to be a more regular bearer. 

Santa Barbara Soft Shell; Sexton s Soft Shell. — Originated by Joseph 
Sexton, who gives this account of its origin and characteristics: " The winter of 1867 
I bought in San Francisco a large sack of English walnuts. I raised about one 
thousand trees that season, and planted two hundred of them the following spring, 
in orchard form, at Goleta. Sixty of them proved to be the soft-shell variety. The 
soft shell is a little later starting in the spring than the common nut, and blooms 
about ten days later. It commences to fruit at six years old from the seed, and some 
have been known to fruit as young as the fourth year. My trees have produced full 
crops each year for the past fourteen years. The hard shell commences to fruit about 
the ninth year, and bears full crops alternate years. The soft shell is not as strong a 
grower as the other walnut; it being so prolific retards its growth, and at the same 
age — taking a number of years together — it will not produce as much fruit per tree 
as the hard-shell variety, and at the same price it would not be as valuable a tree to 
plant. But the trees can be planted together, and the price can be made so much 
more that it will be the most valuable tree to plant. It is a superior nut, and when 
bitter known will be pronounced so by all. The kernel is white, and better for con- 
fection and for all other purposes. The shell is thin, rendering them easily broken 
by the hand, at the same time strong enough to bear transportation to any part of the 
United States." The behavior of this variety in the northern part of the .State has 
not been determined. 

FRENCH varieties. 

Of the general behavior of this group of varieties as compared with the common 
Los Angeles Seedling, Mr. W. B. West writes: '' Their growth is slow and the wood 
ripens fully. I have never lost an inch of wood from any frost that has occurred 
sin .e they were planted, while the Los Angeles trees, near them, have been cut to 
the ground many times. As to the quality of the nut, there can be no difference of 
opinion — the French nuts are decidedly superior, the shell is thinner, and the meat is 
very sweet and rich, with none of the bitter skin which always accompanies the Los 
Angeles kind." 

Prcepartur'iens. — This famous t'rench variety was introduced in California in 
187 1, by Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, and has since then been brought in by other 
parties, and is now widely distributed. Its chief characteristic, asits name indicates, 
is early bearing, but the tree does not practically come into bearing, that is, produce 
its own staminate and pistillate blooms, until about eight or nine years of age. The 
variety blooms from two to four weeks later than the common Los Angeles Seedling; 
it shows both kinds of bloom simultaneously, and has the characteristics mentioned 
by Mr. West, of ripening its wood well, and high quality of the nut. Mr. (iillet claims 
that only the trees grown from seed from the original tree in France or trees grafted 
from that, will show the highest excellence, and these he calls " second-generation " 
trees; after that there is a pronounced tendency to reversion to the common type. 
The engravings given herewith are from nuts grown in California on a ''second- 
generation'" tree, by Mr. Gillet. The Prceparturiens is also sold in this ."^tate under 
an Eastern name, "dwarf prolific;" the tree is evidently not a dwarf in the usual 
acceptation of the term, though it probably will not attain the size of the common 
walnut. Nearness to Prceparturiens trees has sometimes made unproductive Los 
Angeles Seedlings fruitful. 

Other French Varieties. — Quite large collections of French varieties other 
than Prceparturiens have been introduced by Mr. Gillet and others, and specimens of 
some of the nuts grown by Mr. Gillet are shown in the engravings. The Cluster wal- 
nut fruits, as its name indicates, in long bunches, sometimes as many as fifteen in a 
bunch; otherwise the tree resembles the common English walnut. The Mayette is a 
large, full-fleshed, and sweet nut, very late in l:)udding out in the spring, and suited for 
frosty places. The Franquette is a very large elongate-oval, blooms late, and is com- 
mended for size and quality of the nut. The Farisienne is a beautiful variety, the 
nut large, broad, and shapely; the tree blooms very late. All the foregoing varieties. 



FrencJi Kinds Grozving in California. 



507 



and the Serotina, Barthere Mesange, Gant, and Chaberte were introduced by Mr. 
Gillet, in 1871. Recently he has added to his collection the Vourey, Meylan, 
Vilmorin, and Weeping walnut. 



Pkitcparturievs (Second Generation). 



Franquette. 




French Walnuts, California-grown, by Felix Gillet. 

Persian Walnut. — A variety called Persian Walnut, or Kaghazi, has been 
grown and propagated for several years, by James Shinn, of Niles, who describes it 
as follows: " Very much larger than the ordinary kinds and thinner shelled. The 
tree is late in putting out leaves and blossoms, and is therefore especially good for 
places that are in danger of late frosts." 

Japanese Walnut; Juglans Sieboldia na. — T\\\s species, native of the north 
of Japan, was introduced to California about i860, and a tree grown from seed 
planted about that time, is growing at the Tower House in Shasta County. For a 
number of years it was admired for the beauty of the tree and appreciated for the 
desirability of its fruit, but its identity was unknown until its determination in 1881, 
by Mr. G. P. Rixford, to whom the question was referred by the State Horticultural 
Society. A full description is given in the Pacific Rural Press, January 8, 1881. 
The trees were first catalogued by R. J . Trumbull & Co. Recently the good points 
of the tree have been more widely recognized. The following excellent description 
is by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa: "This species is found growing wild in the 
mountains of northern Japan, and is, without doubt, as hardy as an oak. The 
leaves are of immense size, and a charming shade of green. The nuts, which 



5o8 



The Japanese Walnut. 



are produced in extreme abundance, grow in clusters of fifteen or twenty, 
have a shell thicker than the English walnut, but not as thick as the black walnut. 




The Japanese Walnut — Grown in California. 

very much resembling pecan nuts. The meat is sweet, of the very best quality, flavor 
like butternut, but less oily, and much superior. The trees grow with great vigor, 
assume a very handsome form, need no pruning, mature early, bear young, and are 
more regular and productive than the English walnut. No tree on my grounds has 
-attracted more attention than the Japan walnut." 



Part Eighth: Fruit Preservation. * 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

FRUIT CANNING, CRYSTALLIZING, AND DRYING. 

The preservation of fruit in various ways for home use and 
distant shipment, is one of the leading industries of CaHfornia, 
employing a large amount of capital and labor, and distributing 
a vast amount of money among our people. These facts can 
be best emphasized by statements of the product of 1888, in the 
leading methods of preservation, by canning and drying. 

CANNED FRUIT PRODUCT OF 1888.* 

Cases. 

Table fruits, 2^-lb. cans, two doz. per case 1,225,000 

" " l-gal. " one " " 12,000 

Pie fruits, 2|-lb. " two " " 32,000 

" " I gal. " one " " 47,000 

Jams and jellies, 2-lb. cans, two doz. per case 32,000 

Total 32,352,000 2h-lh. cans, or 1,348,000 

This product was the output of about twenty-five canning 
establishments, located in different parts of the State. 

DRIED FRUIT PRODUCT OF 1888.+ 

Pounds. 

French prunes 2,000,000 

German prunes 100,000 

Apples, sun-dried 100,000 

Peaches, sun-dried 2,000,000 

Plums, sun-dried 200,000 

Pears, sun-dried 25,000 

Grapes, sun-dried 2,000,000 

Nectarines, sun-dried , 100,000 

Apricots, sun-dried 100,000 

Figs, sun-dried 75>ooo 

Apples, evoporated 250,000 

Apricots, bleached 2,500,000 

Peaches, bleached, peeled 400,000 

Peaches, bleached, unpeeled 2,200,000 

Plums, bleached 40,000 

Nectarines, bleached 60,000 

Total 12,150,00a 

^Estimate of Cutting Packing Company of San Francisco. 
tEstimateof G. W. Meade & Co., of San Francisco. 

(509) 



5IO The Operation of Fruit Canning. 

Add to this the weight of raisins, which is approximately 
twenty milHon pounds, and the gross figure for the CahTornia fruit 
product, canned and dried, is above one hundred and twelve 
million pounds. 

THE CANNING INDUSTRY. 

Fruit canning began in California about thirty years ago, 
but during the last decade has attained its greatness, and is now 
promising much wider extension. The process is simple and 
yet is attended at every point, from the purchase of the fruit to 
the sale of the product, with operations which require experience, 
wisdom, and good judgment. It will be obviously impossible to 
give in print a guide to the pursuit of such an industry, and yet 
a few facts about some of the general features of the manufact- 
ure and the means employed will be of interest. 

The principles involved in the process of commercial canning 
are of course the same as rule in the old kitchen processes, but 
to secure uniformity and cheapness of product a vast number of 
manipulations and appliances have been devised. The chief 
features of canning operations may be summarized as follows ; 
First, preparation of the cans (which is done in the winter): 
second, preparation of the fruit; third, packing in the cans; 
fourth, introduction of the syrup; fifth, capping the cans; sixth, 
cooking the fruit; seventh, labeling and casing. Each of these 
operations is performed by a special class of operatives, and the 
closest division of labor is arranged. The success of the whole 
depends upon the experience and wisdom of the manager, who 
must be able to recognize at a glance when every operation 
is being rightly performed, and every material is in proper con- 
dition, and how processes must be varied to meet changed con- 
ditions in the material. It goes without saying that success de- 
pends not alone upon the interior operation of the establishment, 
but upon the purchase of suitable raw materials as cheaply as pos- 
sible, for the business is transacted on narrow margins. 

The progressive application of the various steps in the 
operation of canning and the appliances employed can be best 
illustrated by reference to the ground plan of one of our best 
and most conveniently arranged establishments, that of the 
Petaluma Cannery, situated on navigable water adjacent to the 
northern shores of the Bay of San Francisco. Nearest to the 
highway are the fruit-room and office, where the fruit is received 
from the wagons, weighed, and credited. Opening from the 
highway also is the operatives' room, fitted with storage facili- 
ties for outer garments, lunch pails, etc., all of which are re- 
ceived and checked for by a clerk; for otherwise the commin- 



A Representative Cannery. 



511 



o-ling of the personal effects of several hundred operatives would 
result in indescribable confusion. From the fruit-room the fruit 
is passed over a long counter to the operatives of the peeling 
and cutting-room. It is handled by them by piecework, and 



__^9nhle ftfrrnm - Petrihirnn OrceJ 




Tin Shop 



D DDD 

Cooking Baths 

D D □ D 

Capping Tabi.es 



CASS 
GOOtS 
DSP'T 



OPEN COURT 
FOR COAL A'ND GASOLINE 



BeiLER 
ROOM 



SVPl'P TAolE' 



Filling 
Tables 



D D □ D D 



izi 



Peeling and Cutting Tables 



COVERED 
PLATFORM 



Fruit Room 



□ 



GROUND PLAN 
— OF- 

PETALUMA CANNERY. 

SCALE, ABOUT 60 FEET TO ONE rNCH. 



the work of each recognized by proper tickets. Thence the pre- 
pared fruit goes to the filling-tables, where it is put in the cans, 
which are grouped in frames holding a dozen cans. These are 
carried to the syrup tables, where other operatives fill the cans, 



512 Cost of a Canning Outfit. 

with syrup from pipes connecting with tanks to which syrups 
of different densities, according to the fruit which is being 
worked, or the grade of goods, is stored in bulk. The cans go 
next to the capping-tables, where the cover is put on and sol- 
dered, sometimes by hand, sometimes by soldering machines, 
the heat being secured with gasoline. A minute vent-hole is 
left in the cover of each can. The cans are then placed in large 
iron frames, or trays, holding perhaps a gross of them, and these 
are raised and swung around by cranes, and plunged in the 
cooking-baths, in which the water is kept boiling by means of 
steam from the boiler, which is generally situated outside the 
building. The amount of cooking varies with different fruits, 
and with the same fruit in different conditions. The cooking 
must be directed by the man in charge, and upon his experience 
and judgment depends largely the success of the whole work of 
the cannery. After the vent is closed, and the final touch of 
the cooking process given, the cans, after thorough cooling, are 
ready for labeling and casing. 

Such is a mere outline of the process of commercial can- 
ning. The diagram of the Petaluma Cannery shows how build- 
ings and appliances are arranged for the different parts of 
the process. The building is a high, one-story structure, with a 
trussed roof. There are no partitions in the cannery proper, 
and the manager can, by looking through the glazed side of the 
office, have the whole establishment under his eye, from the en- 
trance of the fruit at the scales, to its exit from the cooking- 
baths. Between the manufacturing rooms and the tin-shop 
there is a high partition. The Petaluma Cannery has also a 
department devoted to the putting up of extra fine goods in 
glass bottles, a feature which other canneries do not have. The 
establishment has a capacity of about one hundred thousand 
cases in a season, and room for the employment of about five 
hundred operatives. Its cost, including buildings and full outfit, 
is approximately $30,000. 

The OuTf^iT of a Cannery. — Although all canneries 
have the same general kind of an outfit, there is much difference 
in size and cost. Some establishments were started on a very 
small scale, and have expanded as their business and capital 
warranted. Those interested in the subject generally ask for 
the items and cost of a moderate-sized outfit. Mr. J. J. Groom, 
of Los Gatos, who makes a specialty of fitting up canneries, 
furnishes the following estimate on the expense of building and 
plant: — 



Orchard CaiDierien. 5 1 3 

TOOLS, MACHINERY, AND BUILDINGS. 

I steam boiler, 48 in. by 1 6 ft $1,000 

I engine $250, I elevator $100 350 

I press $90, 2 comb dies $80, 2 cap dies $30 200 

12 fire pots $120, I gasoline tank pump $125, etc 245 

4 seaming frames $10, 8 body seamers $20 30 

4 sets truck wheels $25, 4 flat plates $6 31 

I square shears $44, i tin former $iO 54 

1 vice $9, 4 processing tanks $60 69 

75 iron trays $70, i large scale $60 130 

2 doz. small balance scales 36 

6 doz. pitting knives $45, 2 capping machines $250 295 

I 5,000-gallon water tank $65, 5 syrup tanks $40 105 

Small tools, globe valve, piping, etc 200 

Tables, benches, and boxes 1 50 

12 doz. fruit knives $21, i anvil $10 31 

Total $2,926 

Cannery building 50x100 ft., two story 2,500 

Warehouse 20x100 ft., one story 1,600 

Total $7,026 

These buildings can all be built of rough lumber except 
the floors; they should be of the best material, say Oregon pine 
flooring, and laid to drain well. The buildings can be boarded 
up and down with battens. 

Such an establishment will have a capacity for putting up 
half a million cans during the season. 

Orchard Canning. — This term is given to small estab- 
lishments in which the grower puts up his own fruit for sale in 
cans or jars. There have been several devices patented by Cal- 
ifornians during the last few years to enable the small canner to 
cook his fruit in the package, and a number of them are now in 
successful use, and there may ultimately be a large product of this 
class. The orchard canner has the advantage of securing his 
fruit in its best possible condition, right from the tree, but the 
requirements of personal attention and investment in labor, cans, 
and sugar, are considerable, and the grower generally prefers to 
relegate the manufacturing to a co-operative establishment, or 
a purchasing canner. 

CRYSTALLIZED FRUITS. 
There has been some progress made during the last few 
years in the production of candied, crystallized, or glace fruits. 
Special establishments are now doing this work in Los Angeles, 
San Jose, and San Francisco. They have processes which are 
the result of considerable experimentation, and they do not 
make them public. To others the way lies open to similar ex- 
perimentation. The United States consular reports give ac- 
counts of French practices* which will be found suggestive, but 



* Republished in Pacific Rural Press, January 22 and February 12, 1887. 

33 



514 Crystallhed Fruits. 

exact processes for California fruits can be only learned by ex- 
perience. The general theory, and an outline of practice, was 
recently given by J. J. Pratt, of the Yuba City Cannery, as fol- 
lows : — 

The theory is to extract the juice from the fruit, and replace it with sugar syrup, 
which, upon hardening, preserves the fruit from decay, and at the same time retains 
the natural shape of the fruit. All kinds of fruit are capable of being preserved un- 
der this process. Though the method is very simple, there is a certain skill required 
that is acquired only by practice. The several successive steps in the process are 
about as follows: — 

First, the same care in selecting and grading the fruit should be taken as for 
canning; that is, the fruit should be all of one size, and as near the same ripeness as 
possible. The exact degree of ripeness is of great importance, which is at that stage 
when fruit is best for canning. Peaches, pears, etc., are pared and cut in halves, as 
for canning; plums, cherries, etc., are pitted. The fruit having thus been carefully 
prepared, is put in a basket, or a bucket with a perforated bottom, and immersed in 
boiling water. The object of this is to dilute and extract the juice of the fruit. The 
length of time the fruit is immersed is the most important part of the process. If left 
too long, it is overcooked and becomes soft; if not immersed long enough, the juice 
is not sufficiently extracted, which prevents a perfect absorption of the sugar. 

After the fruit has been thus scalded and allowed to cool, it can again be assorted 
as to softness. The next step is the syrup, which is made of white sugar and water. 
The softer the fruit the heavier the syrup re(|uired. Ordinarily about seventy de- 
grees, Ballings saccharometer, is about the proper weight for the syrup. 

The fruit is then placed in earthen pans, and covered with the syrup, where it is 
left to remain about a week. The sugar enters the fruit and displaces what juice re- 
mained after the scalding process. 

The fruit now requires careful watching, as fermentation will soon take ]jlace, 
and when this has reached a certain stage the fruit and syrup are heated to a boiling 
degree, which checks the fermentation. This heating process should be repeated as 
often as necessary for about six weeks. 

The fruit is then taken out of the syrup, and washed in clean water, and it is 
then ready to be €\\.\\&x glacid or. crystallized as the operator may wish. If glacvd, 
the fruit is dipped in thick, sugar syrup, and left to harden quickly in open air. If 
it is to be crystallized, dip in the same kind of syrup, but is made to cool and harden 
slowly, thus causing the sugar which covers the fruit to crystallize. The fruit is now 
ready for l^oxing and shipping. Fruit thus prepared will ke:-p in any climate and 
Stand transportation.* 

Thus far the crystallized fruit produced in California has 
sold well. There is a considerable importation of French fruit 
to the United States which may be displaced by the California 
product, and the business commends itself to those who have 
ingenuity, patience, and capital enough to enable them to ex- 
periment and wait for future successes. The California producer 
has the advantage of an abundance of very fine fruit at a low 
price. According to the consular reports, the fruits best for 
crystallizing are not cheap in France. 

FRUIT DRYING. 

To describe minutely the methods and appliances employed 
for the drying of fruit in California would require a volume, and 



"Prize Essay State Board Horticulture, i£ 



SiDisJiine versus Evaporators. 5 1 5 

is beyond the scope of this treatise. Nearly all the patented 
evaporators which have gained prominence at the East have 
been introduced here, and we have a host of inventions of our 
own which are also employed. It will be impossible to discuss 
thes2 machines or describe their uses. Good fruit has been 
made with all of them, and there are some who condemn them 
all. Very much depends upon personal skill and care in the 
use of fire in fruit drying. One contemplating the purchase of 
an artificial fruit drier should give some time to investigating 
the different machines. He should see them in operation and 
talk with those who are using them, and endeavor to form an 
opinion as to how much of success or failure which may be re- 
ported may be due to the operator. 

The use of machine driers is most prevalent in the coast 
valleys. As stated in Chapter I, regions subject to coast influ- 
ences have a less duration and intensity of sun heat, and a more 
humid atmosphere than the interior, and are therefore less fit- 
ted for sun drying, though the sun is largely employed. Since 
it has been ascertained that by the use of sulphur before ex- 
posing the fruit to the sun, it can be cured without darkening 
its color, sun drying has largely taken the place of machine dry- 
ing. The capacity of any machine is infinitesimal as compared 
with the acreage of sunshine, and the proportion of sun-dried 
fruit over machine dried, during the last two years, has been 
vast. Owing to the beautiful light color of the fruit and the great 
care in boxing and adorning it, sun-dried fruit from the interior 
valleys and foot-hills of California has sold as evaporated fruit — 
than which a higher commercial tribute cannot be paid to its 
excellence. Though this is true, there is still a great field for 
machine driers. Their capacity and economical use of heat are 
continually being improved, and their product when well manip- 
ulated approaches perfection as a preserved product. 

Although the sun drying of fruit may be a simple process, 
there have been so many little arts, methods, and appliances in- 
troduced to facilitate work or improve the product, that one can 
learn much by visiting the different fruit regions during the dry- 
ing season. Such a course is commended to growers who con- 
template large drying operations. The notes of practice which 
can be given in this connection must be brief and general. 

Trays for Drying. — The greater part of the fruit, in- 
cluding raisins, is placed upon trays for exposure to the sun. 
There is great variation in the size of the trays. The common 
small tray is made of one-half-inch sugar-pine lumber, two feet 
wide and three feet long — the boards forming it being held to- 
gether by nailing to a cleat on each end, one by one and aquar- 



5i6 Trays for Fruit Drying. 

ter inches, and a lath or narrow piece of half-inch stuff is nailed 
over the ends of the boards, thus stiffening the tray and aiding- 
to prevent warping. A cross-section of such a tray is shown at 
A. This is the standard tray, and was first used for raisin cur- 
ing by the late G. G. Briggs. 



E= 



Cross Sections of Drying Trays. 

A larger tray which is used by some growers is four feet 
square, and is made of slats three-eighths of an inch thick, and 
one and a half inches wide, the slats being nailed to three cross 
slats three-eighths of an inch thick and three inches wide, and 
the ends nailed to a narrow strip one-half inch thick by three- 
quarters of an inch wide on the other side. A cross section of 
this tray is shown at B. 

Still larger trays are used in a Fresno establishment, as 
large as three feet by eight, but these trays are moved from the 
cutting-house to the drying-ground on train cars. 

Another style of tray is made with a wooden frame over 
which heavy paper is drawn and tacked. Instead of trays fruit 
is sometimes spread on strong brown paper, which is bought in 
the roll and painted over with oil to exclude juice and moisture. 
China matting is also used to some extent. These materials 
cost less than trays, but the latter are the more easily handled 
and more durable. 

Protecting Fruit from Dew. — In the interior there 
is seldom any deposit of dew in the drying season, but occasion- 
ally there are early rains before the drying season is over. The 
fruit is then protected by piling the trays one upon another, in 
which operation the thick cleats serve a good purpose. In 
dewy regions the trays are piled at night, or cloth or paper is 
sometimes stretched over the fruit, thus reducing the discolora- 
tion resulting from deposits of moisture upon it. 

Drying-Floors. — For the most part the trays are laid di- 
rectly on the ground, but sometimes a staging of posts and rails 
is built to support them, about twenty inches from the ground. 
The drying-trays are sometimes distributed through the orchard 
or vineyard, thus drying the fruit with as little carrying as possi- 
ble. Others clear off a large spac • outside the plantation and 
spread the trays where full sunshine can be obtained. Drying 



Sun-Drying Frint. 



5'7 




SiH TJie Use of SulpJnir. 

spaces should be selected at a distance from traveled roads to 
prevent the deposit of dust on the fruit. 

Cutting-Sheds. — Shelter of some kind is always pro- 
vided for the fruit-cutters. Sometimes it is only a temporary 
bower made of poles and beams upon which tree branches are 
spread as a thatch; sometimes open-side sheds with boarded 
roof, and sometimes a finished fruit-house is built, two stories 
high, the lower story opening with large doors on the north 
side, and with a large loft above, where the dried fruit can be 
sweated, packed, and stored for sale. The climate is such that 
almost any shelter which suits the taste and purse of the pro- 
ducer will answer the purpose. 

Sulphuring. — There is constant discussion concerning 
the desirability of sulphur fumes in connection with fruit drying. 
The discussion may result in educating buyers so that they 
will purchase unsulphured fruit at a good price, but they are 
of no such mind at present, and the producer cannot afford to 
do otherwise than use sulphur on fruits on which the demand is 
for a light color. Sulphur-bleaching of old, discolored, sun- 
dried fruit in a sort of resurrecting process, is very different 
from the exposure of freshly cut fruit to sulphur fumes before 
putting out in the sunshine. The latter is the practice which is 
at present usually signified by the term sulphuring, although 
sulphur is also used with the machine driers. 

There are various contrivances for the appHcation of sul- 
phur fumes to the freshly cut fruit. Some are small for hand 
carriage of trays; some are large and the trays are wheeleil into 
them upon trucks. The most common is a bottomless cabinet 
about five or six feet high, of a width equal to the length of the 
tray and a depth a little more than the width of the tra\-. The 
cabinet has a door the whole width of one side, and on the sides 
within cleats are nailed so that the trays of fruit slip in like 
drawers into a bureau. Some push in the trays so that the bot- 
tom one leaves a little space at the back, the next a little space 
at the front, and so on, that the fumes may be forced by the 
draft to pass between the trays back and forward. The essen- 
tials seem to be to open holes or dampers in the bottom and 
top of the cabinet so that the fumes from the sulphur burning at 
the bottom may be thoroughly distributed through the interior, 
and then all openings are tightly closed. To secure a tight 
chamber the door has its edges felted and the cabinet is made 
of matched lumber. The sulphur is usually put on a shovel or 
iron pot, and it is ignited by a hot coal, or a hot iron, or it is 
thrown on paper of which the edges are set on fire, or a little al- 



Gradi}ig and Siveating. 5 1 9 

cohol is put on the sulphur and lighted, etc. The sulphur is 
usually burned in a pit in the ground under the cabinet, though 
some advise having the sulphur burned in a little furnace out- 
side, the fumes being drawn into the cabinet through the pipe 
from the stove. Some use strips of cloth dipped in melted sul- 
phur and cooled. These strips can be torn off at any desired 
length, lighted, and put under the trays. The application of 
sulphur must be watchfully and carefully made, and the expos- 
ure of the fruit should only be long enough to accomplish the 
end desired. The exposure required differs with different fruits, 
and with the same fruits in different conditions, as must be 
learned by experience. Apples require least exposure to sul- 
phur; apricots and peaches will stand more. Probably the pre- 
vailing time of exposure is thirty to sixty minutes. Some grow- 
ers claim that shorter time will answer, but present practice is 
as stated. 

Grading and Cleaning. — After the fruit is sufficiently 
dried, and it is impossible to describe how this point may be 
recognized except by the experienced touch, it is gathered from 
the trays into large boxes and taken to the fruit-house. Some 
growers put it into a revolving drum of punctured sheet-iron, 
which rubs the pieces together and separates it from dust, etc., 
which falls out through the apertures as the drum revolves. 
Others empty the boxes upon a large wire-cloth table and pick 
it over, grading it according to size and color, and at the same 
time the dust and small particles of foreign matter fall through 
the wire cloth. 

Sweating. — All fruit if stored in mass after drying be- 
comes moist. This action should take place before packing. 
To facilitate it, the fruit is put in piles on the floor of the fruit- 
house and turned occasionally with a scoop shovel ; or, if allowed 
to sweat in boxes, the fruit is occasionally poured from one box 
to another. The sweating equalizes the moisture throughout 
the mass. Some large producers have sweat-rooms with light 
walls, which preserve an even temperature. No fruit should be 
packed before "going through the sweat." If this is not done 
discoloration and injury will result. 

Dipping before Packing. — Most fruit is put in wire bas- 
.kets and dipped in boiling water before packing. Much ob- 
jection is made to the practice because some producers have, 
apparently through avarice to secure great weight, packed too 
much water with the fruit, and have thus absolutely ruined it. 
Like many other practices, it must be wisely and intelligently 



5 20 Dipping and Packing. 

done or it had better be abandoned. To dip in boiling water to 
kill eggs of vermin, and to make the fruit a little more pliable 
for the press, has been a common practice for several years. 
The dipping should be done quickly, and the fruit allowed to 
drain. It should not be allowed to soak in the water. The tend- 
ency with sun drying is to get the fruit too dry. Dipping and 
then allowing the fruit to lie in a dark room carefully covered 
for twenty-four hours before packing has been the method. Still 
it would no doubt be better if the fruit should be taken up just 
exactly in the right stage of dryness, and then exposed to high 
heat in a close chamber for a few moments to kill insect eggs, 
instead of dipping. But dipping has fallen into disrepute, and 
some who have packed \.\\&{xW\^ tightly, without dipping or heat- 
ing, report good results. 

Packing. — To open well, packages of dried fruit should be 
"faced." The many fine arts of paper lining, etc., must be 
learned by observation. Flatten some fair specimens of the 
fruit to be packed (and reference is especially made to such 
fruits as apricots, peaches, and nectarines) by running them 
through a clothes' wringer or similar pair of rollers. Do not 
face with better fruit than the package is to contain. It is a 
fraud which will not in the end be profitable. Lay the flattened 
fruit neatly in the bottom of the box cup-side down. Fill in the 
box until it reaches the amount the box is to contain, and then 
apply the press until the bottom can be nailed on. Invert the 
box and put on the label or brand; the bottom then becomes 
the top. 

Many different kinds of boxes are used. A very good size 
is made of seasoned pine, six inches deep by nine inches wide by 
fifteen inches long, inside measurements, and it will hold twenty- 
five pounds of fruit. 

Recently there is preference for fruit in cotton sacks, and 
much is marketed in that way, but some producers insist on boxing 
their fruit for the gain in weight, by preventing drying out, and 
the better chance of establishing a reputation for their brands. 
The producer as a rule will adopt whatever style of packing 
will give him the best results, and he will have to rely largely 
on experience to teach him that. 

METHODS WITH DIFFERENT FRUITS. 

As already intimated, it will be impossible to enter minutely 
into the operations of drying and packing on a commercial scale, 
or even to notice all the small and ingenious arts by which the 
work is facilitated. As already suggested concerning the work- 



GatJicring Apricots for Drying. 



521 




522 Apricots and Figs. 

ing of machine driers, anyone who contemplates production on 
a large scale should personally visit leading regions and inform 
himself by inquiry and observation. Such an education will 
save mistakes, which may cost many times more than the ex- 
pense of getting it. California producers are usually quite will- 
ing to show visitors the methods they employ. Though this is 
the better way of proceeding, a few general hints will be given 
of procedure with different fruits. 

Apples. — There seems little use of drying apples unless a 
very light-colored, handsome product can be turned out. This 
can be done by sulphuring as soon as cut, and sun drying in a 
dry region, or by the use of a machine evaporator in regions of 
greater atmospheric humidity. 

Apricots. — Apricots for drying should be fully ripe but 
not soft enough to be mushy. By the use of sulphur and sun 
heat, or the machine, an amber-colored, semi-translucent fruit is 
obtained, which sells at excellent prices. Pick the fruit without 
bruising, and haul to the cutting-shed in spring trucks. Some 
shake apricots upon sheets, but the best product is hand-picked. 
Pit the fruit by a clean cut completely around in the suture; do 
not cut part way round and then tear apart — a clean-cut edge is 
essential. Put on the trays with the skin down, or with the cup 
up, as it is sometimes described; sulphur, and then put in the 
sun. About three days of interior-valley sunshine will finish the 
apricots. Apricots will yield on the average one pound of dried 
fruit to five pounds of fresh. 

Berries and Cherries. — These fruits are only dried in 
the sun in small quantities for local sale, and ordinary farm-house 
methods are employed. 

Figs. — The "second crop" of the fig is usually employed 
for drying, as stated on page 404. The fruit may be carefully 
picked from the tree so as to secure the whole of the stem, when 
the fruit is fully ripe, as is known by the seaming or slight 
shriveling of the skin. In drying the common black fig from 
large trees, however, the fruit is generally gathered from the 
ground, which is cleaned and smoothed before the crop ripens. 
In drying black figs the fruit is placed on trays and in most 
cases exposed to the sun, but some foot-hill growers maintain 
the advantage of drying in the shade. The figs should not be 
allowed to dry hard. When sufficiently cured, put in sweat- 
boxes for several days, and when ready to pack dip in boiling 
salt water, or, as is the practice of some producers, dip in boiling 
. syrup. In either method a good, pliable condition and hand- 



Drying Peaches. 523 

some color are obtained. In drying white figs many sulphur the 
fruit from fifteen minutesto an hour beforeputting out on the trays. 
Figs which dry slowly have to be turned several timics during the 
drying, and those which are apt to run juice are placed so that 
the eye is raised a little until the juice is thickened. The white 
figs are also put in sweat-boxes and dipped in hot salt water 
before packing. In packing, the figs are often flattened and 
drawn out by hand. The time required in drying figs is usually 
from five to eight or ten days, according to location and weather. 
The fruit does not cure evenlx', and those which are finished (as 
determined by sight and touch — to be learned by experience) 
are picked from the trays and the others given more time. 

Pears. — The dried pear product is small, and as with 
apples, only a light-colored product is profitable. These are 
made by sulphuring and sun drying, or by the use of the machine 
drier. 

Peaches. — Peaches are sun dried in much the same way as 
apricots, already described. Take the fruit when it is fully ripe, 
but not mushy; cut cleanly all around to extract the pit and put 
on trays cup-side up; get into the sulphur box as soon as possi- 
ble after cutting. Peaches are dried both peeled and unpeeled, 
and, just at present, drying without peeling is prevalent. Peel- 
ing is done with the small paring-machines, or with a knife, and 
in some cases with lye, but lye peeling has been generally aban- 
doned because of discoloration of the fruit after packing. 

To use lye in peeling requires a vast amount of fresh water 
for rinsing — in fact, running water seems necessary to prevent 
the accumulation of the alkali in the rinsing water. In the 
strength of the lye there is difference in the practice of different 
producers, but from one-half to one pound to the gallon of water 
covers both extremes. The lye is kept boiling, the fruit is put in 
galvanized wire baskets and plunged in for a few seconds. The 
speed of the operation depends upon heat and the strength of 
the lye; the dipper tests the efficacy by touching the skin of the 
peach with a small stick, and if it rubs off easily, the fruit is 
plunged in the rinsing bath and stirred around until the peaches 
are clear of the skin. It is then plunged in a fresh bath and 
kept in water until required by the cutters. 

Clingstone peaches are cut with a knife invented by G. W. 
Tarlton, of San Jose. It consists of the blade of any common 
knife (like a shoe-knife), with a short U-shaped blade set in at 
the point of the main blade. In cutting the peach in halves, 
the curved blade skims around the stone, completely severing it 
from the peach. This device has enabled the grower to pit 



y 



5-4 Nectarines and Phivis. 

clings as easily as freestones, but owing to the strength required 
in the wrist, the pitting of clings can best be done by men. The 
Tarlton knife works admirably, both with mellow and quite firm 
fruit, and is, therefore, vastly superior to the spoon-shaped knife, 
which can only be used on soft fruit. A strong, active man can 
pit five hundred to seven hundred pounds of clings in a day. 

The weight of dried peaches 
'which can be obtained from a cer- 
tain weight of fresh fruit, depends 
The Tarlton Knife for Pit- upon the variety: some varieties 
TING Clingstone 1'eaches. yjeld at least a third more than 
others, and clings yield more than freestones as a rule. Dry- 
fleshed peaches, like the Muir, yield one pound dry from four 
or five pounds fresh, while other more juic}- fruit may require 
six or seven pounds. 

Nectarines. — Nectarines are handled like peaches; the 
production of translucent amber fruit in the sun depends upon 
the skillful use of sulphur. 

Plums and Prunes. — Our pitted plums, which are an 
acid fruit, seem to meet a small demand, and whenever the prod- 
uct is large, prices have been ruinously low. Pitting is done by 
hand or by the use of foot-power " pitters." More rapid and 
capacious machines are being brought out by inventors, and a 
large product could be easily turned out if prices would warrant. 

Prunes, on the other hand, are one of our greatest and most 
promising products. Several varieties which dry sweet with the 
pit in are used in making prunes, as already stated in Chapter 
XXII, but the prevailing variety is the Prune d' Agen. 

Prunes are gathered by shaking from the trees, usually 
upon sheets spread beneath. A local invention which is giving 
satisfaction is that of George A. P'leming, of San Jose, for 
whicli a patent has been obtained. It is a simple machine, con- 
sisting merely of a very low platform wagon with a sideboard 
on one side. Boxes are arranged on the platform, and to one 
side is hinged a slatted frame (in two sections), and to the outer 
edge of this two canvas sheets, each eight by sixteen feet, are 
attached by their short sides. The wagon (or sled) is drawn by 
one horse, and when opposite a tree the hinged frames of slats 
are turned down and two men, one for each sheet, spread them 
under, one each side of the trunk of a tree, and standing on the 
outer edges of the cloths gently shake the tree. When all the 
prunes ripe enough have fallen, the two men gather up the 
sheets, commencing at the outer extremity, the fruit mils along 



Prune Curing. 525 

upon the hinged frame, the leaves, twigs, and dust fall through the 
openings, and raising the frame the fruit rolls off into the boxes 
on the platform of the truck. This arrangement is found to be 
a great saver of labor. 

Prunes are usually graded before drying, and various home- 
made contrivances are employed. Some use inclined planes of 
adjustable slats, the grader being thus available for other fruits 
than prunes; the large fruit rolls along into receptacles at the bot- 
tom, while the small fruit falls through into other receptacles. 
Other grading devices are made with wire screens or riddles of dif- 
ferent sizes of mesh. Some of them work on the principle of a 
fanning mill, three to four riddles, placed above one another, 
each with a slight incline, and a spout on the side where each 
grade drops in a box. Some have a long riddle, say twelve feet 
long, with three different sizes of wire screen on it. This riddle 
is hung upon four ropes with an incline; the prunes are thrown 
in the higher end and by shaking it they roll down and fall 
through the holes into boxes underneath. The first piece of 
screen should be small, to let only stems and dirt through, and 
no prunes. This long hanging screen is also used to grade 
prunes after drying. 

The next step in the process is dipping in lye to thin and 
crack the skin, which facilitates the escape of moisture in the 
drying process. In a large cauldron lye is made with one pound 
of concentrated lye to each twenty gallons of water, and kept 
boiling hot. The fruit is put into wire bask ts or galvanized 
pails with perforated sides and bottoms, and dipped in the boil- 
ing lye for about a minute, or until the skin is seen to be scalded 
and cracked, then plun;Te the basket into clean cold water to 
rinse off the lye. This rinsing water must be frequently changed, 
for it soon becomes very alkaline. After this dipping, the prunes 
are placed on trays ready for the machine drier, or for th'e sun- 
shine. In the sun the prune dries sufficiently in from one to two 
weeks, according to the situation and weather. 

When sufificiently dried the prunes are put through the 
" sweat," which takes from several days to two or three weeks, 
and then are ready for grading, finishing, and packing. In grad- 
ing, the prunes are separated by the use of a grader, as already 
described, into a number of grades, the largest, forty prunes to 
the pound and so on, fifty, sixty, etc., to the smallest, which may 
run one hundred to the pound. Finishing consists in exposing 
to steam, in dipping in clear hot water, or hot sugar syrup, or in 
dipping in boiled juice of ripe prunes, or peaches or apples, etc. 
Although there is a great variety of materials nsed for "gloss- 
ing" prunes by different producers, the prevailing practice is to 



526 Raisin Making. 

rely upon hot water, to which pure glycerine is added at the rate 
of one pound to twenty gallons. Some growers also add a little 
brine (having first dissolved the salt and skimmed off the im- 
purities). This final hot dip kills insect eggs, and the fruit, after 
drying off away from access of insects, should be packed tightly 
in boxes or cannisters. 

Recently some makers are processing prunes by steam heat at 
a high degree, which darkens the color and gives the prunes the 
cooked flavor which is characteristic of the F'rench prune. A 
darker hue may also be given to the prune by using a little ex- 
tract of logwood in the final dip, but this practice is not largely 
adopted. The lighter color of the California prune may be use- 
ful as a distinguishing mark when the excellence of the fruit is 
more widely recognized. 

Raisins. — The production of raisins has reached such an 
extent and employs so many ingenious persons that the proc- 
esses employed to facilitate the curing and packing are so 
various that a description of them cannot be attempted. No 
one should think of beginning the commercial production of 
raisins without visiting the raisin farms and packing-houses dur- 
ing the harvest. The following description gives an outline of 
the latest practice, and is from the pen of a prominent producer 
of the Fresno district:* 

In Fresno picking commences about the first of September, although there have 
been seasons when it occurred as early as the twentieth of August. The grapes un- 
der no circumstances should be picked for raisins until they are ripe. There are three 
ways by which to ascertain this fact: First, by the color, which should be a light 
amber; second, by the taste; and third, by the saccharometer, which is by far the 
most accurate. A grape may be ripe and not have the proper color, when grown 
entirely in the shade. The juice of the grape should contain at least twenty-five per 
cent sacchararine, to produce a good raisin. 

The most practicable method of drying is by the use of trays placed upon the 
ground.' The almost entire absence of dew in our locality greatly facilitates this 
method. The trays are usually twenty-four by thirty-six inches. Those of larger 
dimensions are found inconvenient to handle when filled. Trays of the former size 
hold about twenty pounds of fruit, and should produce from six to seven pounds of 
raisins. The product of a vineyard depends largely upon its age and favorable con- 
ditions, varying from two to nine tons of grapes per acre. 

The trays, or platforms, are taken into the field and distributed along the sides of 
the roads, from which they are taken by the pickers as they are needed. As the 
grapes are picked from the vines, all imperfect berries, sticks, and dead leaves are re- 
moved from the bunches, which are then placed upon the trays, right side up. 
A cluster has what is called a right and a wrong side, the wrong side having more 
of the stems exposed than the right side. Great care should be used in picking, so 
as to handle the bunches only by the stem. If the berries come in contact with the 
hands, some of the bloom will be removed, which will injure the appearance of the 
raisin. The trays are placed, after filling, between the vines, one end being elevated 
so that the grapes may receive the more direct rays of the sun. 



" Address of T. C White, at Viticultural Convention of 1S88. 



Raisin Curing in Riverside. 



527 




528 A Fresno Raisin Maker's Methods. 

The length of lime required for drying depends much upon location and condi- 
tions, favorable or otherwise. I have known raisins to be dried in seven days, but 
they were not a good article, and too rapid drying is not desirable. The grape^ are 
left upon the trays until about two-thirds dry, which, with us, will be in from six to 
eight days. They are then turned. This is accomplished by placing an empty tray 
on top of the one filled with partially dried raisins, and turning them both over. 
Then take off the upper or original tray, and you have the raisins turned^ without hand- 
ling or damage. After turning, curing will proceed more rapidly, and frequently is 
completed in four or five days. During this time they should be carefully watched to 
prevent any from becoming too dry. When it is found they are dry enough, the 
trays are gathered and stacked one upon the other as high as convenient for the sort- 
ing which follows. This protects them from the sun and prevents overdrying. 
Stacking should be attended to early in the morning, while the stems and berries are 
slightly moist and cool from the night air, as they will retain this moisture after being 
transferred to the sweat-boxes, and assist in quickening the sweating process. 

As the raisins are taken off the trays, some of the berries on the bunches will be 
dry enough and a few will not be sufficiently cured. To remove the moist ones woidd 
destroy the appearance of the cluster, and to leave it out longer would shrivel the 
dry ones, hence the sweat-box. The moisture is diffused through the box, some being 
absorbed by the dry raisins, and the stems also taking their share are thus rendered 
tough and pliable and easily manipulated when ready for packing. 

Sorting and grading require care and judgment, and ahh aigh a tedious process, 
it greatly facilitates rapid packing. The sweat-box is a little larger than the tray and 
about eight inches deep, and contains about one hundred and twenty-five pounds of 
raisins. Heavy manilla paper is used in the sweat-boxes, one sheet being placed in the 
bottom, and three or ft)ur more at equal distances as the filling progresses. The object 
of the paper is to prevent the tangling of the stems and consequent breaking of the 
bunches when removed for packing. 

The sorters have three sweat-boxes; one for first, second, and third qualities, as 
the grade will justify. The bunches should be handled by the stem and placed care- 
fully in the sweat-boxes to avoid breaking the stems, thereby destroying the symme- 
try of the clusters Any found to be too damp are returned to the trays and left a 
day or two longer in the sun. To ascertain if the fruit is perfectly cured, take a 
raisin between the thumb and forefinger and roll it gently until softened, when either 
jelly or water will exude from the stem end — if water, it requires further drying. 
When the boxes are filled they are taken to the equalizer. This should be built of 
brick or adobe, and as near air-tight as possible, but provided with windows to allow 
ventilation when necessary. The windows should have shutters to keep it dark. 
The filled boxes are placed one exactly upon another to a C(jnvenient height, and 
should remain from ten to twenty days or more, when they will have passed through 
the sweating process. When the raisins are sufficiently equalized, the sweat-boxes 
are removed to the packing-room, which is provided with tables, presses, scales, etc. 

The most convenient mode of packing is that devised by Mr. Blowers, and con- 
sists in the use of a metal tray corresponding in size to a layer of raisins and having a 
loose bottom. The raisins are placed in the preliininary packing-tray with the face 
of the cluster downward, which gives the surface a level appearance and prevents the 
exposure of the stems. When the bottom of the packing-tray has been covered, 
which should always be with perfectly-shaped berries and bunches, the tray is filled 
to the requisite weight of five pounds. The contents of the tray are then pressed 
sufficiently to pack the raisins firmly together, but not with such force as to break the 
skin, causing the jelly to exude an(l consequent early sugaring. After being pressed 
they are transferred to the boxes, during which process the paper is wrapped around 
each layer. The paper is placed on the top of the tray of raisins, and a sheet of steel, 
the exact width of the trays, is placed above the paper, and the whole reversed. The 
sheet of steel serves to hold the raisins in place until the layer is put into the box, 
when the steel is withdrawn and the layer drops into the box face up. The standard 
box of California raisins is twenty pounds' weight, containmg four layers of five 
pounds each. They are usually graded into Dehesia and London layers, and one, 
two and three-crown loose Muscatels. 



Loose and Dipped Raisins. 529 

The foregoing relates to the preparation of the standard 
raisin as produced in California. Loose raisins are also produced 
in considerable quantities and are faced beautifully by means of 
an invention patened by T. C. White, which consists of a flat, 
metal mould, or plate, having depressions made in its surface, 
which plate forms the bottom of the preliminary packing-box, 
and serves to hold the raisins in a fixed position until the pack- 
ing is completed and the raisins are placed in the box. Loose 
Muscatels are prepared by being put through the stemmer and 
grader. The stemmer removes the berries from the stems, and 
the grader, by separating according to size, determines the grade. 
A considerable quantity of dipped raisins are also made of 
the Sultana grape and of loose or inferior Muscatels. A lye dip 
of about one pound of potash to three gallons of water is used, 
and the solution is kept boiling hot. The ripe fruit is dipped for 
an instant, then plunged in fresh water for a thorough rinsing, 
and then placed on the trays. During warm, dry weather in 
the interior, the raisins are dried in the shade by leaving the 
trays in piles, but if cooler, moister weather prevails, the trays 
must be spread out. The product is a handsome amber color. 
Drying of wine grapes for sale at the East or in Europe is 
now practiced quite largely because of the present surplus wine 
product. It seems probable that quite an extensive demand 
can be found for the dried grapes, as they can be profitably pro- 
duced at quite a low price. 



34 



Part Ninth : Fruit Protection. 

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

Excepting the ill effects of severe winters, fruit-bearing 
trees and plants are subject to many evil influences and agencies, 
which vex the growers in other parts of the world. The free 
introduction of nursery stock, fruits, and seeds, has brought in 
many of the most destructive foreign insects and fungi, and 
others native to the territory have learned to forsake forest 
growths and live upon cultivated trees and plants. Some of the 
native species of the rodentia also relish the succulent food to be 
found in orchard and vineyard, and some birds, both native and 
introduced, sometimes work havoc both upon bud and fruit. 
Besides these animate invaders there is also need, in many cases, 
of protection against unfavorable natural phenomena, such as 
prevailing or occasional winds and frosts. It will be the aim of 
this Part Ninth to give outlines of methods which have been 
found measurably successful in protecting orchard, vineyard, and 
plantation from evils which, for convenience, will be arbitrarily 
classified as follows: (r) Repression of injurious insects; (2) 
repression of marauding animals and birds, or protection from 
their attacks; (3) protection against winds and frosts. 



chapter XXXVI I. 

INJURIOUS INSECTS. 

During the early years of California fruit growing, the free- 
dom of the fruit from burrowing worms and all uncleanness, was 
a well-founded claim, but the day of such immunity has passed 
away. Though we have thus far escaped some grievous pests, 
as, for example, the curculio of the plum, as stated in Chap- 
ter XXXII, we have acquired enough evil insects to keep our 
fruit growers busy in their repression. The climate which so 
favors tree and plant by a long, mild, growing season, also enables 
some insects to multiply much more rapidly than they do in 
wintry climes, some having several distinct broods, others carry- 

(530) 



Popular Grouping of Insects. 531 

ing on the work of reproduction and destruction of plants nearly 
the year round. If, however, as now seems likely, a good 
part of the repression of injurious insects may be trusted 
to other insects, parasitic or predatory, upon them, the climate 
will favor the multiplication of friend as well as foe, and thus 
carry its own compensation. 

In order to arrange injurious insects in classes in a popular 
way, the grouping will be based upon the character of the work 
they do, an arrangement which has been followed by other 
writers, and which is better than attempting to group the insects 
which prey upon any single tree or plant, because injurious in- 
sects seldom restrict themselves to a single food plant. There- 
forethe grouping will be as follows: (i) Insects destroying foliage; 

(2) insects upon the bark or upon the surface of leaf and fruit; 

(3) insects boring into the twig, stem, or root; (4) insects bor- 
ing into the pulp of fruits. 

The literature upon the subject of insect pests in California 
is quite extensive, but much of it is beyond the reach of the 
general reader. There are, however, a number of publications 
which should be on the shelves of every fruit grower, and these 
will be cited.* The study of the pests and the invention of 
means for their destruction are, however, continually progressing, 
and one can only keep himself informed of this progress, and 
profit by improvements, by diligent reading of periodicals de- 
voted to practical horticulture. 

INSECTS DESTROYING FOLIAGE. 

Army Worms. — Smooth caterpillars about an inch or 
more in length when fully grown; prevailing color black, with 
light-colored stripes on the sides; moving forward in large 
bodies, hence the name; six forward legs; eight central legs; two 
rear legs; usually most destructive to grass and grain, but invade 
vineyards and orchards. Most available remedy is spraying the 
leaves with Paris green, one pound to one hundred and eighty 
gallons of water. 

Cut Worms. — Smooth, plump, dull-colored caterpillars 
destroying buds and leaves at night and hiding by day in loose 
dirt at the base of the plant. Remedy, Paris green as above, or 
uncover and kill the worms with a hoe. 



* " Injurious Insects of the Orchard, Vineyard, etc.," by Matthew Cooke; 8vo., 472 pages, fulK- 
illustrated. For sale by Dewey & Co., S. F. ' 

Reports and Bulletins: California State University, College of Agriculture, Berkeley, Cal • 
Reports State Board of Horticulture, 220 Sutter Street, S. F.; Reports State Viticultural Com- 
missioners, 216 Montgomery Street, S. F. Published by the State. 

Reports United States Department of Agriculture, especially from 1880 to date, and special pub- 
lications " Division of Entomology," Washington, D. C , published by the general Government. 



532 



Leaf-Eating Insects. 



Canker Worms. — Slim caterpillars of different colors, 
moving by a looping gait, and often completely defoliating trees 
very early in the season. Remedy: Paris green spray, and 
banding of the trees with paper on which is spread a mixture of 
printers' ink and molasses, to prevent the wingless moth from 
ascending the trees to deposit eggs on the twigs. In this cli- 
mate these bands must be put on in December and maintained 
through the winter. 

Tent Caterpillars. — Several species of hairy cater- 
pillars called "tent caterpillars," or "web-worms," from their 
spinning covers of cobweb-like material, under which they take 
shelter in large colonies, but one at least of the group does not 







Larv^ Pup.^Jand Moth of Web-wor.m. 

spin a web, though it lives in clusters on the tree. The worms 
can be killed by burning the colonies with a torch on the end of 
a pole or by spraying the foliage with Paris green. The pest 
can be reduced by carefully collecting and burning the &^^ 
clusters while pruning. The ^2^% cluster encircles the twig, as 
shown in the engraving on the next page. 

Red-Humped Caterpillar. — Striped caterpillars not 
hairy, but having two rows of black spines along the back, also 
living in clusters; of reddish color with yellow and white lines; a 
short distance back of the red head of the caterpillar is a red 
hump on which are four black spines; black spines are also 
scattered over the body, but smaller than those on the back. 
Spray with Paris green, or cut off and burn colonies. 



Leaf-Eating Insects. 



533 



Caterpillar of Tussock Moth.— A conspicuous cater- 
pillar with four short, brush-like tufts on its back, and two long 
black plumes at the front, and one at the rear of the body — see 
engraving. This leaf-eater is found on apple, pear, plum, and 
sometimes on other fruit trees, also on the walnut and oak. 
The caterpillars can be killed with a Paris green spray. The 





Female 



Cocoon. Moths and Eggs of Tent Caterpillar. 

larva spins a cocoon in the fold of a leaf, and the female, after 
emerging from it, deposits her eggs upon the outside of the 
cocoon. The engraving shows the wingless moth and cocoon 
with the mass of eggs deposited upon it. 





Tussock Moth Larva, Wingless Female, and Cocoon with Eggs. 

Pear and Cherry Slug. — A small, slimy, dark-colored 
worm, with the fore part of the body notably larger than the 
rear part, eating the upper surface of the leaves but usually not 
making holes through them. The insect can be checked by 
throwing fine road dust or air-slaked lime over the tree, which 
cakes upon the slime of the worm and destroys it. On a large 
scale a Paris green spray is best. 



534 



Leaf-Eatmg Insects. 



Saw-Fly Worms. — There are several larvx of saw-flies 
which do much injury to pear trees, currants, etc., by eating the 
whole leaf substance except the larger ribs. The worms are 
small, the one infesting the pear being but about half an inch 
when fully grown. Its general ajjpearance and work are shown 
by the engraving. The most available remedy is a Paris green 
spray. 

Large Caterpillars on Grape-Vines. — The grape 
vine is often seriously injured by the attacks of very large leaf- 




Larv.^ of Saw-fly on Pear Leaves. 

eating worms two inches and upwards in length, sometimes with 
large horns, or spines, sometimes without. They are larvse of 
several species of Sphinx moths or humming-bird moths. The 
worms can be killed by Paris green spray or by hand-picking. 
The numbers of worms can be reduced by killing the large moths, 
which are abundant at nightfall on beds of verbenas, or other gar- 
den flowers. These worms are related to other large caterpillars, 
which feed on tobacco, tomatoes, etc. 

Leaf-Eating Beetles. — There are many beetles, large 
and small, which infest grape leaves. They can all be reduced 
by the use of Paris green. 



Leaf- Puncturing Insects. 



535 



Leaf Lice. — Leaves of fruit trees, especially the apple and 
plum, are sometimesalmost covered with lice or aphides of different 
colors, from light green to black, some individuals having wings 
and some wingless. An available remedy for all these leaf lice is 
a resin wash: Take one pound concentrated lye; four pounds 
resin. Dissolve the lye in two quarts of water. Add the resin; 
heat until dissolved and add two and a half gallons of water. Use 
one quart of the solution to the gallon of water. Use at a tempera- 
ture of one hundred degrees Fahr., with a spray nozzle which sends 
spray upwards so as to reach the under sides of the leaves. 

Very often these pests 
are effectually cleared 
out by lady-birds and 
other insects which de- 
vour them. The engrav- 
ing shows the general 
form of the aphis tribe. 

Thrips. — Very minute 
insects infesting leaves of 
pear, causing them to 
wither and fall off — the 
leaves usually being cov- 
Remedy, the resin wash as for leaf lice. 




The Aphis or Leaf Louse. 



ered with black dots. 



Vine H0PPER.s. — Very minute, yellowish, jumping insects 
infesting grape-vines very early in the season, and multiplying 
rapidly. They exhaust the sap from the leaves, causing them to 
turn yellow and fall, exposing the grapes to sunburn. The in- 
sects are destroyed by making a frame of wire gauze, smeared 
on the inside with crude petroleum mixed with kerosene. This 
screen is placed over the vine, and the insects, which leap as 
soon as disturbed, come in contact with the petroleum and are 
killed. Large numbers can be destroyed by spraying with whale- 
oil soap, one pound to three gallons of water, with a small 
amount of cheap sugar or syrup added to the solution. This 
adheres to and kills all insects it strikes. 

False Chinch-Bugs. — Small, grayish-brown insects (about 
one-eighth of an inch long when fully grown), which per- 
forate the vine leaves. They drop to the ground when the vine 
is disturbed. They may be caught by shaking into a dish-shaped 
screen placed under the vine, or a spray like that for the vine 
hopper may be used on the vine and ground beneath. 

Grasshoppers. — These pests often invade orchard and 
vineyard, and sometimes kill the plants outright by completely 



536 



Leaf-Eating Mites. 



defoliating them. This plague has been successfully met by the 
use of the arsenic and bran remedy prepared as follows: Forty 
pounds of bran, fifteen pounds middlings, two gallons of cheap 
syrup, twenty pounds arsenic, mixed soft with water; a table- 
spoonful thrown by the side of each vine or tree. Cost per 
acre for trees, fwenty-five cents; for vines, fifty cents. If placed 
on shingles about the vineyard, much of the poison not eaten 
may be afterward gathered up and saved. Complete success 
has resulted from the use of this remedy, as the grasshoppers 
eat it readily and die in their tracks. For this remedy may be 
substituted, with equal effect, the Paris green spray. 

Red Spider and Other Mites. — Very minute insects 
usually discernible only with the aid of a magnifier, sometimes 
destroy the leaves, causing them to lose their color and health by 
their inroads upon the leaf surface. The red spider and yellow 
mite are conspicuous examples; the former infests nearly all 
orchard trees, especially the almond, prune, plum; and the latter 
the pear. The eggs of the red spider are ruby-red globules, as 
seen with the magnifier, and are deposited in vast numbers upon 
the bark of the tree, and leave a red color upon the finger if it 
is rubbed over them. The eggs are very hard to kill, and treat- 
ment is most effective when applied in the spring and summer, 
after the mites are hatched out. Mr. Klee recommends the sul- 
phide of soda and soap wash (see page 232), applied twice in 
the year, in June and September, using as much sulphur as the 
solution will carry. 






The Red Spider— Young and Mature, Highly Magnified. 
INSECTS UPON BARK OR SURF-ACE OF LEAVES OR FRUIT. 

This class includes the scale insects, or so-called " bark-lice," 
a large group of most grievous pests, and the woolly aphis, 



The Woolly Aphis. 



537 



which is distinguished from the leaf aphides by choosing its 
habitat on bark of tree and root. 

The Woolly Aphis. — A louse of dark red color occurring 
in groups covered with a woolly substance which exudes from 

the bodiesof the insects. 
In the engraving, a is 
the gall or swelling pro- 
duced on the rootlets 
by their presence; b is 
the insect showing the 
outgrowth of woolly 
matter; c is the winged 
female; d is the magni- 
fied leg of the insect; 
e is the break which is 
thrust through the bark 
for the extractor of sap ; 
/ and g are forms of 
antennse. The woolly 
aphis is an almost uni- 




The Woolly Aphis Illustrated. 



versal pest of the apple, though, asstatedonpageQ/, some varieties 
are practically exempt from it. As the pest lives both upon root 
and top, its annihilation is impossible, but it may be reduced so 
that the fruitfulness and vigor of the tree are not impaired. The 
use of wood ashes around the trees close to the trunk has been 
beneficial, and a dressing of gas lime very sparingly applied at a 
distance from the trunk, has also had a good effect. The insect 
on the branches and twigs can be reduced by spraying with 
resin solution (already mentioned for leaf aphides), or the clus- 
ters of the insect can be touched with a swab dipped in kerosene, 
but the kerosene should not be allowed to spread upon the bark. 
Lady-birds often clear away the woolly aphis of the tree above- 
ground. 

Phylloxera. — This pest of the grape-vine is closely allied to 
the aphides, and lives both upon the root and leaf, though in this 
State the root type prevails and the leaf form is seldom seen. 
No remedy has yet been found effectual, but escape is had by 
using roots resisting the insect, as described on page 367. The 
insects are recognized by aid of a magnifier, as minute yellow 
lice chiefly on the rootlets. 

Scale Insects. — This is a large group of pests which 
occasion greater loss and trouble to our fruit growers than all 
other pests combined. There are many species, and no orchard 
tree is exempt from the attacks of one or more of them, though 



538 



The San Jose Scale. 



some trees are apparently more popular with the pests than 
others. The fruit grower should study their life history and 
classification as laid down in the works on entomology. It will 
only be possible in this connection to introduce a few engravings, 
by which some of the most prominent pests can be recognized, 
and to give some of the remedies which are now being most 
successfully employed against them. Of the occurrence of these 
scales, statements will be drawn chiefly from the latest publica- 
tion on the subject.* 

San Jose Scale {Aspidiotiis pemiciosus). — This is one of 
the worst and to-day the most widespread of the species of scales 
which are found preying on deciduous fruit trees in California. 
The work of this species is generally readily distinguished from 
other species of scale by the red blotches which are formed 
wherever it stings any part of the tree — either branch, leaf, or 
fruit. These red blotches are more pronounced in some varieties 
than in others. When the scales are present in large numbers 





San Jose Scale on Fruit and Twig; Young Scale and Mature Female. 

it causes a complete discoloration of the bark clear to the sap- 
wood. This scale, like others, has its preference among the 
deciduous fruits, which it affects most severely. The apricot is 
the only one which, it may be said, is proof against it; certain 
varieties of cherries and plums are but little affected, the reason 
being, probably, that the bark is too compact for the scale to 
pierce it with its proboscis. The engravings show a pear affected 
by the scale; also the insect natural size on a twig; also the form 
of the young, and the mature female found by lifting the 



*" Insects Injurious to Fruit and Fruit Trees," by W. G. Klee, iSSS; published by the State 
Board of Horticulture. 



Pear and Apple Scales. 



539 





Pear Scale. 



scale — the color of the insects being lemon yellow. The scale 
of the female is about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, with 
a yellowish center and gray or black margin. 

The Greedy or White Pear Scale {Aspidiotus rapax), 
— This species affects many kinds of trees, deciduous as well as 
evergreens. Scale, about one-sixteenth of an inch in length; 
form, ovoid; color, drab. Female, bright yellow. This insect is 
found in many places along the coast. It 
infests, chiefly, pear trees, hence its name. 
It is distinguishable easily from the As- 
pidiotiis perniciosiis by its whitish-yellow 
color, contrasting with the dark color of the 
latter. Generally this scale has only one 
brood in the season, and as compared with 
the San Jose scale, it is of lit- 
tle danger, owing to its slow 
breeding propensities. 

Oyster Shell Scale of 
Apple {Mytilaspis pomkor- 
ticis). — This is one of the few 
insects which the Northeastern 
States have in common with us. Like the preceding one, it has 
only one brood during the season. It affects the apple chiefly, 
although sometimes the pear also. It is confined chiefly to the 
coast counties, but is also found in other places, as San Joaquin 

Valley. Owing to the thickness of 
the armor, it is one of the most dif- 
ficult of the scales to exterminate. 
It can be easily recognized by the 
enp raving, which shows a piece of 
bark covered with it. The best 
remedy is a winter spray of one- 
half pound of caustic soda and one-half pound of commercial 
potash to each gallon of water used. 

Rose and Berry Scale {Diaspis rosce). — The engrav- 
ing, Fig. 2, page 540, will enable one to easily recognize this scale. 
The large white scale is that of the female; the elongated one 
with ridges is the male. The rose scale infests, besides roses, 
various fruit bushes, especially blackberries and raspberries. 
Remedy: For raspberries and blackberries the cutting down of 
the canes to the ground should be adopted, and the stumps 
sprayed or washed with one of the solutions recommended un- 
der the head of creneral remedies for scale insects. 



Oyster Shell Scale. 



540 



Orange and Beriy Scales. 



Oleander Scale {Aspidiotus Neidi.) — This scale is well 
shown in Fig. 3, page 541. It affects a great many trees, espe- 




N«<^S*** 




Fig. I. Red Scale of the Orange. 




Fig. 2. Rose and Berry Scale. 



The Oleander Scale. 



541 



cially evergreens. Lemon trees become badly affected by it and 
the fruit is sometimes completely covered with it. The olive is 
also subject to it, and the fruit of the olive when infested does 
not mature well, and wherever a scale is found, a green blotch 
shows its appearance. This is the only scale affecting the olive 
in the dry interior valleys. 

Red Scale of Orange and Lemon {Aspidiotus aurantit). 
— This scale, shown in Fig. i, page 540, affects citrus trees in 
both the coast and interior regions. The scale fully grown is 
one-twelfth of an inch or a little more in diameter, center yellow, 
margin light brown. The appearance of trees infested with this 
pest is very striking, very much resembling those diseased from 




Fig. 3. Oleander Scale. 

other causes, such as bad drainage, the leaf presenting a mottled 
appearance, a light blotch around the scale contrasting with the 
natural green of the leaf. The branches are but little troubled, 
but the fruit, like the leaf, becomes completely covered with the 
insects. An orange tree infested with this scale gradually 
becomes sickly and languishes. 

The Black Scale {Lecaniwn olecs). — This scale, shown 
on page 542, is almost a universal pest, especially in regions 
adjacent to the coast. It affects citrus fruit trees, and a fungus 
growing on its exudation causes the black smut, which renders 
tree and fruit unsightly, but this smut accompanies other scale 
insects as well as this one. It is especially troublesome on the 
olive, and will quickly spread to ornamental plants and vines in 
the garden. 

Filbert Scale {Lecanium hemisphencuni). — This large, 
roundish scale, shown in Fig. i, page 544, is abundant on the 



542 



TJie Black Scale. 



native oaks, and is sometimes found on fruit trees, but thus far 
has not been found a formidable pest. 

Soft Orange Scale {Lecaniicm Hesperidum). — This scale, 
Fig. 2, page 544, is a pest of citrus trees the world over. The 
scale is ovoid, a little wider at one end than at the other; length, 
from one-twelfth to one-seventh of an inch; color, dark brown 
on convex part, and a lighter brown surrounding margin; it has 
two indentations on each side, and one on posterior end. The 
engraving does not bring out these characters well, but shows 
the way in which the scale collects in masses. 

Brown Apricot Scale. — The apricot tree, though defying 
the most ruinous scales of some other trees, is now beset by 
a scale of the lecanium family, somewhat resembling the soft 
orange scale in exterior appearance. The scale is boat-shaped, 
when reaching maturity somewhat wrinkled; the color is a shiny 




Black Scale of the Olive, Etc. See Page 541. 

brown, darker in the center, lighter at the edges. A full-sized 
scale has a length of a quarter of an inch, and a width of one- 



Cottony Scales. 



543 



eighth of an inch. The eggs generally hatch in May and June, 
and the main brood is produced in a few weeks. This scale 
attacks nearly all kinds of deciduous fruits, but seems to be 
especially adapted to the prune and apricot. 

Cottony Cushion Scale or Fluted Scale {Icerya 

PurcJiast). — This most grievous of all scales in its rapid increase 
and wide range of food plants, can be easily recognized by aid 
of the engraving. It is distinguished from the cottony grape 
scale by the fact that the egg-sac of the former is fluted, or 




Cottony Cushion Scale. 



Cottony Grape Scale. 



Mealy Bugs. 



ribbed lengthwise, while the latter is merely a cottony mass. 
The fullest investigation of this scale has been made by Pro- 
fessor Riley, United States Entomologist,* and to his enterprise 
in sending an agent to Australia is due the fact that imported 
parasites now promise to reduce this pest, which it is exceedingly 
difficult to repress with insecticides. 

Mealy Bugs. — Closely allied to the scales are the mealy 



• Report United States Department Agriculture, 1886, p. 466. 



544 



Soft Orange and Filbert Scales. 



bugs (species of daciylopius), soft and of a pale pink color, 
generally covered with a whitish mealy powder, hence the name. 
The common species is found nearly in every greenhouse in the 
world, and in Californian climate lives in the open air on many 
kinds of plants, and have at various times proved quite trouble- 
some. Unless checked by natural enemies, the mealy bugs 
multiply very rapidly, and mass themselves in the corners of the 
leaves. The plants turn black from the fungus growth growing 
on the honeydew, and the bush presents the same appearance as 




Fig. li Filbert Scale. 



Fig. 2. Soft Orange Scale. 



a scale-infested plant. With the aid of a magnifier the appear- 
ance of the mealy bugs, as shown on the preceding page, can be 
readily recognized. 

Remedies for Scale Insects. — Though most of the 
scale insects are attacked by parasitic and predacious insects, 
these natural agencies have not thus far proved rapid enough to 
cope with the increase of the scales, and insecticides have to be 



v.. 



* 1 V -iL 



A'. A 

■Li: 






BEARING DATE PALM OF MRS. S. C. WOLFSKILL.— See Page 396. 



Remedies for Scale Insects. 545 

employed to save the fruit and trees. The subject of spraying 
and appliances therefor is considered at length in the publica- 
tions of the State Board of Horticulture, and the United States 
Department of Agriculture, and too many considerations are in- 
volved to admit of recital in this place. The treatment depends 
upon the condition of the tree. Upon deciduous trees strong 
mixtures may be used as winter washes, and washes of different 
character as summer washes. There is a vast number of these 
washes, all of which will do good work if thoroughly applied, 
which is usually the secret of success. A few will be given 
herewith. 

WINTER WASHES FOR DECIDUOUS TREES. 

Oil and Alkali Wash. — One and one-quarter gallons of whale oil; twenty- 
five pounds of sal-soda; dissolve the sal-soda in twenty-tive gallons of water and heat 
it to boiling. When boiling pour the whale oil in. Apply the wash when cooled to 
one hundred and thirty degrees Fahr. The whale oil forms a kind of emulsion, 
most of the oil remaining free. 

After allowing this dose to act for three or four weeks, apply a wash of alkali 
employing either of the following caustic solutions in this proportion: One pound of 
concentrated lye (American), of eighty per cent; or four-fifths of a pound of Green- 
bank powdered caustic soda, of ninety-eight per cent; or one pound of solid caustic 
soda, of seventy-six per cent; or one and one-half pounds of solid caustic soda, of 
sixty-three per cent. These varying proportions are given because the caustic soda 
in the markets are of different strength and purity. Whichever one is chosen, add 
to each amount named one-half pound of commercial potash and dissolve in six 
gallons of water. One advantage of using the potash with the soda is that the 
former collects moisture and keeps the compound acting when the soda alone would 
dry and crystallize and cease working on the scale. The object to be obtained by 
using the caustics after the sal-soda and whale oil, is to saponify any oil that might 
have remained on the tree, and which would have a tendency to clog the pores of the 
bark. If but one spraying is to be given, use the soda and potash wash, or the whale 
oil and sal-soda separately — but in bodily infested orchards the combination of the 
two is commended. 

Whale Oil Soap and Caustic. — To this mixture of soda and potash, for 
deciduous trees perfectly dormant, one-fourth of a pound of whale-oil soap can be 
added to each gallon of the solution with advantage. 

Salt and Time Wash. — The following was first commended by growers in 
the San Joaquin Valley, and has recently been widely used: Twenty-five pounds of 
lime (unslacked); twenty pounds of sulphur; fifteen pounds of salt; sixty gallons of 
water. To mix the above, take ten pounds of lime, twenty pounds of sulphur, and 
twenty gallons of water. Boil until the sulphur is thoroughly dissolved. Take the 
remainder — fifteen pounds of lime and fifteen pounds of salt — slack, and add enough 
of water to make the whole sixty gallons. Strain and spray on the trees milk-warm 
or warmer. This can be applied when the foliage is off the tree, and will have no 
injurious effect on the fruit buds or tree whatever. 

summer washes for deciduous trees. 

Sulphide of Soda Wash.— The wash for which a formula is given on page 
232, is also a most effective summer wash for scales just as they are hatching out. 

Resin Soap.— Ingredients for one barrel of fifty (measure) gallons. Weight, 
about four hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds. Ten pounds caustic soda, ninety- 
eight per cent; ten pounds potash; forty pounds tallow; forty pounds resin. First — 
Dissolve the potash and soda in ten gallons of water. When dissolved, place the 



546 TJie Common Borer. 

whole amount in the barrel to be used. Second — Dissolve the tallow and resin to- 
gether. When dissolved, add the same to the potash and soda in the barrel, and stir 
well for five minutes or so. Leave standing for about two hours; then fill up with 
water, stirring well as every bucket of water goes in. Use the following day, one 
pound to the gallon of water. Apply warm. Commended by Sol Runyon. 

WASHES FOR SCALES ON OLIVE, ORANGE, ETC. 

Kerosene Emulsion. — Five gallons best kerosene oil, one hundred and fifty 
degrees test; one and a fourth pounds good common soap, or one bar and a half of 
soap usually sold as pound packages; two and a half gallons of water. This makes 
the emulsion. When using, dilute six and one-half (to seven) gallons of water for 
each gallon of oil, and to this mi.xture add two and a half pounds of good home-made 
soap dissolved in boiling water. All this mixing is done with hot water, and is applied 
at a temperature of one hundred and forty degrees Fahr. Commended by Ellwood 
Cooper. Care must be taken to use the best kerosene. 

Tobacco Tea. — Make a decoction of tobacco stems by boiling the stems until 
all their substance has been extracted, after which the decotion is strained through a 
piece of coarse muslin cloth and cold water added until the decoction contains two 
gallons to each one pound of tob \cco stems used. These stems can usually be 
obtained at cigar factories at about two cents per pound. 

Resin Soap. — Take twenty pounds of resin, one gallon of fish oil, eight pounds 
of caustic soda, and enough water to make one hundred gallons. The caustic soda is 
first dissolved in about sixteen gallons of water, after which one-half of the solution 
is taken out and the resin added to that remaining in the kettle. When all of the 
resin is dissolved the fish oil is added to it and the whole thoroughly stirred, after 
which the balance of the caustic soda solution is added very slowly and boiled for 
about an hour, or until it will readily mix with water. Better results will be obtained 
if an iron vessel is used for making the preparation in than if a tin one is used, since 
a considerable degree of heat is necessary in order to produce complete saponifica- 
tion of all the materials used. This wash has been quite extensively used and has 
given quite good satisfaction. Commended by D. W. Coquillett. 

Proprieta'ry Remedies. — A number of proprietary remedies are upon the 
market, many of which are no doubt effective. The writer has had most experience 
with the Ongerth Liquid Tree Protector, and finds it very satisfactory, but it is a 
powerful remedy and must be well diluted, especially on stone fruits, which have 
sometimes been killed by excessive use of it. 

INSECTS BORING IN TWIG, STEM, OR ROOT. 

The Common Borer. — The insect which has done most 
injury in this State is the "flat-headed apple ho\Q:x'' i^Chryso- 
botJiris feuioratci). It affects chiefly apples, peaches, and plums, 
which have been injured by sunburn. It is a pale-colored grub 
with a brown head, the forepart of the body being greatly flattened. 
The matured beetle is greenish black or bronze colored, copper 
colored on the under side. If any tree receives any damage to the 
bark, either by sunburn or other causes, the borer is sure to find it, 
and it works itself into the tree, its castings being the only guide 
to its presence. The best remedy is prevention by protection 
from sunburn, as described on page 145. A whitewash contain- 
ing whale-oil soap and sulphur is also a good protection and 
preventive. Whenever a borer is removed, the debris and 
dead wood should be entirely cleaned out and the smooth sur- 



Tzvis; Borers. 



547 




face left, taking care to preserve the bark as much as possible. 
Then the wound should be smeared over with grafting wax, and 
a rag tied about it. In this manner young trees have been saved, 
but if seriously attacked, it is better to put in a sound tree and 
protect it. 

Sun-Scald Borer. — Another borer which delights in sun- 
burned trees is a minute beetle, making a burrow hardly larger 
than a pin-hole. It is known as the sun-scald beetle {Xyloboriis 
xylograpJius). The remedy, as in the former case, is to prevent 
injury to the bark, for this precedes the attack of the beetle. 

Peach Twig-Borer. — This grub is the larva of a moth 
{Anarsia linealelld) about half an inch in length 
when fully grown, and of a light reddish color. The 
moth, the worm (natural size and enlarged), and the 
manner of its working in the peach or apricot twigs, 
are shown in the engraving. The first brood of 
worms bore into young limbs 
of peach trees, the second into 
the fruit. Any infested limbs 
should be cut off and burned, 
and no hiding-places for the 
insects allowed. It is in the spring that 
they show their work most plainly by the 
withering young shoots. These must be 
cut off and destroyed. The insect is inter- 
mittent in its appearance, apparently being 
greatly reduced by some natural causes. 

The Olive Twig-Borer. — A reddish 
brown beetle boring into twigs of olive and other orchard trees, 
at the axils of the leaves. The insect is shown in the engraving, 
somewhat enlarged, as the line on the left shows the natural 
length of the insect. It is Polycaon confertus, and 
it breeds in decaying logs and stumps, apparently 
visiting the fruit trees merely to gratify its appetite. 
Its work is not fatal to the tree, but unless propc 
pruning and attention be afterwards given, it ma\^ 
spoil the shape of a young tree. Remove the 
affected branches below^ the burrow of the beetle, 
or if it would be difficult to replace a branch, see 
that the beetle is destroyed and the entrance to 
the hole stopped up — this to prevent decay and a 
weak branch following. Spraying with ill-smelling solutions 
may prevent their attack until the material leaves the tree, an J 
may at times be used to advantage. Clearing away of decaying 
stumps, etc., may reduce the pest. It has been found to breed in 
old grape-vine stumps piled up for firewood. 




The Peach Twk. 

BORER. 




Olive Twig- 

liORER. 



548 



Crown and Root Borers. 



Peach Crown-Borer. — A grub boring into peach trees 
just below the ground surface, its presence being shown by 
copious gumming. The insect resembles the Eastern crown 
borer of the peach, but is a distinct species {Sannania pacifica. 
Rile)'). Mr. Klee shows that it burrows vertically, and therefore 
not so likely to girdle the tree as the Eastern species. The 
engravings show the grub, the chrysalis, the female and male, 
clear-winged moths. Remove the ground around the tree, dig 
out the grubs and cover the wound with clay or wax. To pre- 
vent the deposit of eggs, encircle the tree for six inches above 
and below the ground, with tarred paper, tying it securely. 
Piling sand or ashes around the tree may be useful. 



Grub. 




Male. 





California Peach-horer. 

Strawberry Root-Borer. — The larva of another clear- 
winged moth {^-Egeria tmpropria), boring into the root of straw- 
berry plants, found in various portions of the State, and doing 
considerable damage, forcing the growers to resort to replanting 

much earlier than otherwise 
would be necessary. Mr. Klee 
says the common practice of 
flooding the vines has a great 
tendency to kill out the worms, 
and if the water was retained, 
say four to five days during 
the winter, all over the plants, 
doubtless all the larvae would 
be killed. 

Currant and Goose- 
berry-Borer. — A white worm 
eating out the central pith of 




California .Strawberry Root-borer. 



currant and gooseberry plants 



The Codlin Moth. 



549 





>^^ 



Moth of Currant-borer, Larva 
AND Pupa Enlarged. 



— the larva of another clear-winged moth {^"Egeria tipnlidifonne). 
Spraying with whale-oil soap after the crop is gathered, prun- 
ing out and burning in the fall of all old wood which can be 
spared, will reduce the evil. See figure below. 

INSECTS DEVOURING THE PULP OF FRUITS. 

The Apple Worm. — The codlin moth {Carpocapsa poino- 
nellci) is on^ of the great pests of the State. Its appearance and 

manner of work are sufficiently 
shown by the engraving. It 
preys chiefly upon the apple and 
pear, but the iquince and other 
large fruits are sometimes in- 
vaded by it. The first moths of 
the season usually appear about 
the blossoming-time of the apple 
and deposit their eggs in the ca- 
lyx of the young fruit, but in the 
cooler parts of the State the 
moth is apparently considerably 
delayed in transformation, and deposits its eggs at random 
on the skin of the fruit. The 
young worm hatches in seven 
to ten days, and eats its 
way into the fruit, and in 
twenty days its full growth is 
attained, and it goes out 
through the side of the apple, 
and, by meansof its spinneret, 
reaches the ground or some 
large branch. If landed on 
the ground it usually seeks 
the trunk, which it ascends 
and soon finds a hiding-place 
under the loose bark, where 
it spins its cocoon, and in 
eight or ten days comes forth 
a moth, ready to lay eggs 
anew. The ^g^ is laid all 
over the fruit, and especially 
at a point where two fruits touch. Usually we have in this State 
two broods at least, but more often three, and naturally, if un- 
checked, the increase from the first to the last is enormous. The 
worms escaping from the fruit in the fall hibernate as larva; un- 
der the loose bark of the tree, or in storehouses, or in any avail- 
able dry place. 




The Apple Worm and Its Parent 
Moth. 



550 



Remedies for Codlin Moth. 



On old trees with loose bark the worms find abundant 
shelter, and in treating such an orchard it is desirable to scrape 
away the old bark, burn the scrapings, and spray with a mixture 
of whale-oil soap and sulphur to soak and kill any worms which 
may be overlooked. The engravings show how the worm con- 
ceals itself and spins in bark crevices, also an implement which 
is well adapted for cleaning the bark from old trees. 




The Apple Worm in Old Bark. 



Scraper for Removing Old Bark. 



The remedies now prevailing against the codlin moth are 
banding the trunks of the trees with burlaps — making harbors 
in which the worms hide and spin their cocoons. Wrap a piece 
of an old sack around the tree trunk, fastening it with a piece of 
twine about the middle of the band so that worms crawling either 
up or down may run under it. Remove the bands regularly 
once a week, crush all the worms, and replace the band. It has 
been found that the worms under the bands are attacked by 
predaceous insects which aid in the destruction, and such should 
be observed and spared. Mr. G. W. Thissell, of Winters, has 
patented a trap of wire cloth, which, when placed around the 
tree, allows the worms to enter. They find a snug harbor, but 
when they change to moths, the hole which let in the worm is 
too small to let out the moth. The trap works well, but has not 
come into wide use yet, because of cost and necessity of skillful 
adjustment. Its efficacy is, however, quite well established. 

A treatment for the worm now quite widely employed is to 
spray the trees thoroughly with Paris green, using the poison at 
the rate of one ounce to ten gallons, and keeping the liquid 
thoroughly stirred while spraying. One spraying just before the 
small apples turn downward, seems to be effective for early 
varieties. Late apples should be sprayed two or three times, the 
last time in July. Injury to leaves by Paris green seems to differ 
with different varieties, and to be greater in the moist coast 



OtJier Friiit-Eatbiz Pests. 



551 




c 6 

The Plum Curculio. 



region than in the interior. London purple is also used by- 
some growers with a strength of one pound to two hundred and 
twenty- five gallons. 

The Peach Worm. — As already stated, the larva of the 
peach moth, whicli early in the spring bores into the twigs, is 
sometimes found later in the season in the flesh of the peach. 

The Plum Curculio. — Although, as has been stated, the 
presence of the plum curculio has not been detected in this 

State, and although the impression 
prevails that local conditions do not 
favor its existence, an engraving 
showing the insect and its work is 
introduced, so that all fruit growers 
may be watchful. The most char- 
acteristic and easily recognized sign 
is the crescent inclosing the punct- 
ure in which the egg is placed, as 
shown on the young plum, d. The 
larva is shown at a, the pupa, b, 
and the beetle, c, — all highly mag- 
nified. 

The Diabrotica. — A light green beetle with twelve spots 
on his back {Diabrotica sorror), is sometimes very injurious to 
early fruit, by eating into it when ripe. The insect also eats 
leaves and blossoms. As the insect attacks the fruit just when 
it is ready to pick, it is impossible to apply any disagreeable or 
poisonous spra)'. Sometimes the insects are driven away by 
dense smoke from fires in and around the orchard. 

The Dried Fruit Worm. — Dried fruit is often seriously 
injured after packing, by a small worm larva of a moth not yet 
determined. The eggs are deposited on the fruit either while 
drying or while in the packing-house, or through the cloth of 
the sacks, or seams of the package. The only remedy is to kill 
the eggs on the fruit before packing, by dipping in boiling water, 
or by heating in an oven and after that preventing the access of 
the moth. Some packers claim that fruit packed under good 
pressure will not be injured, except perhaps around the outside. 

BENEFICIAL INSECTS. 

Nearly, if not quite all, injurious insects have foes of their 
own kind which reduce their numbers. Works on entomology 
describe many of them, and the observing grower cannot em- 
ploy his leisure time more profitably than in keeping his eyes 
open and studying for himself the insect world around him. 



CHAPTER XXXVI I I 



SUPPRESSION OF INJURIOUS ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 

The beasts of the field and the fowl of the air are some- 
times such grievous trespassers upon the fruit plantation that 
protection has to be sought against them. The animals which 
figure in this evil work are mainly species of rodeiitia, some of 
them burrowers, as, for example, the ground squirrel and gopher; 
others, surface dwellers, like the hare or jackass rabbit. Occa- 
sionally there is injury done by deer in the orchard and vineyard, 
and coons in the melon patch, but these 'larger animals may 
usually be left to the hunters and the dogs. 

RABBITS. 

Though there are three species prevalent, none are burrow- 
ers. This fact has led to united efforts at their suppression by 
driving them, with mounted horsemen, from a wide stretch of 
country into a narrow, fenced inclosure, where they are killed 
with clubs. During the last two years tens of thousands have 
been killed in this way, and comparatively {c:\m are now found 
in the localities where the method has been adopted. Still, 
however, there are plenty at large to vex the fruit planter, and 
he must protect himself against them. 

Rabbit Fences. — The surest protection against rabbits is 
a fence which prevents their entrance, and many miles of such 
fence have been built in this State. Several styles prevail. The 
ordinary board fence, with the boards running horizontally, is 
made rabbit-proof by placing the lower boards close together, 
with openings of but about two inches between them. A 
barbed wire, with barbs about two and one-half inches apart, 
can be used to advantage by running it along at or a little below 
the surface of the ground to prevent scratching under. 

The cost of board fences has lec^ to the use of barbed wire 
and wire netting, or of perpendicular slats interwoven with wire. 
Such materials are sold in large quantities. A very effective 
combination of barbed wire and netting, which is used in the 
upper San Joaquin Valley, is shown in the adjacent engraving, 
and described as follows: — 

(552) 



Protection against Rabbits. 



553 



The tall posts are regular split redwood posts. The 
intermediate small ones are made by sawing in two the 
regular posts and splitting them into eight small posts, or 
rather large stakes. The netting is of galvanized wire, No. 
19 gauge, and one and one-half-inch mesh. This netting is 
stapled to the posts and stakes on the inside, or toward the 
field. This is of prime importance, as it icill not serve 
the purpose if it is placed on the outside. The bottom of 
the netting is to come down to the ground, and the ground 
must be left hard, and not plowed, to prevent burrowing 
or scratching the dirt from underneath, which can be easily 
done if the dirt is softened up. It is not at all necessary to 
set the netting below the ground. In the sketch are shown 
three barbed wires, with barbs two and a half inches apart. 
These wires must be placed on the outside of the posts. 
This position is also a prime necessity. The lower wire is 
stretched just clear of the surface of the ground. The 
middle wire is one inch higher than the top of the netting, 
and the top wire, which is intended only as against cattle, 
is at a height suitable for the purpose. The rabbit-proof 
portion is comprised in the netting and the two lower 
wires. Hence if cattle are not feared, and rabbits are the 
only foe, the top wire can be dispensed with, and the posts 
can be all short with a greater proportion of stakes, having 
only enough stout posts to stand the strain of the wires. 
The theory of this construction is that a rabbit can only 
pass the fence over the top or under the bottom of the 
netting, and this is effectually prevented by the barbed 
wires, which tear the animal if it attempts either to leap 
or climb over, or to scratch under. 

Smears Distasteful to Rabbits. — 
Where the expense of a fence cannot be 
assumed, measurable protection can be had 
by sprinkHng the leaves or smearing the 
stems of plants with substances distasteful 
to the animals, which are quite dainty in this 
respect. Commercial aloes, one pound to 
four gallons of water, both sprinkled on leaves 
and painted on the bark, gives a bitter taste, 
which repels rabbits. A tea made by steep- 
ing quassia chips is said to produce the same 
effect. Rancid grease, liquid manure, putres- 
cent flesh or blood, have been approved as a 
daub for tree trunks, but the efficacy is only 
of limited duration. 

Rabbit Poison. — Pieces of water-melon, canteloupe, or 
other vegetable of which they are fond, may be poisoned with 
strychnine and then scattered around the orchard. Rabbits will 
not touch the bark as long as they can find this bait, and one 
meal is effective, for the rabbit never gets far away from it. The 
same results can be attained by the following mixture : To one 



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554 Ground Squirrels and Gophers. 

hundred pounds of wheat take nine gallons of water and one 
p:)und of phosphorus, one pound of sugar, and one ounce oil of 
rhodium. Heat the water to boiling point and let it stand all 
night. Next morning stir in flour sufficient to make a sort of 
paste. The rabbits eat it with avidity if scattered about. 

Another preparation is half a teaspoonful of powdered 
strychnine, two teaspoonfuls of fine salt, and four of granulated 
sugar. Put all in a tin box and shake well. Pour in small 
heaps on a board. It hardens into a solid mass. They lick it 
for the salt, and the sugar disguises the poison, which kills great 
numbers. 

GROUND SQUIRRELS. 

Ground squirrels are poisoned by the use of the poisoned 
wheats which are sold in the markets, or by use of bisulphide of 
carbon, or "smokers," which are arranged to force smoke into 
the holes. A small quantity of bisulphide of carbon poured 
into the hole, and the hole closed with dirt, is probably the most 
effective squirrel killer, when the ground is wet, so that the vapor 
is held in the burrow. Smokers are also most effective when 
the soil is moist. Poisoned wheat may be prepared with phos- 
phorus, as already described for rabbits, or can be made with 
strychnine, in this way : Take five quarts clean wheat, scald with 
water, drain. Take two-thirds cup of white sugar, dissolve with 
sufficient water to make a syrup, add one ounce powdered 
strychnine, stir thoroughly until a thin paste is formed. Pour 
this on the damp wheat. Stir thoroughly for at least fifteen 
minutes. Add one pint powdered sugar, stir, add five to ten 
drops oil of rhodium and five to ten drops oil of anise. Place 
a few grains in each squirrel hole, putting it as far in as possible. 

To keep squirrels from gnawing fruit trees, or climbing and 
getting the fruit, tying a newspaper around the trunk of the 
tree, letting the paper extend out four inches at the upper edges, 
is said to be effective. The rattle of the paper when the squir- 
rels attempt to get over it will frighten them. 

GOPHERS. 

Gophers can often be destroyed by the use of poisoned 
wheat, especially if prepared with a little oil of rhodium, which 
seems to be very attractive to all rodents. Pieces of fruits or 
vegetables into which a few grains of strychnine have been in- 
serted by making a cut with a knife-blade and then squeezing it 
together again, are also handy conveyors of death to gophers. 
There are two ways to put poisoned material into a gopher run- 
way. One is to look for fresh open holes and put in the poison 



Poison and Traps for Gophers. 555. 

as far as possible with a long-handled spoon ; another is to take 
a round, pointed stick and shove it in the ground near the 
gopher mounds until' it strikes their runway, then drop in the 
poisoned bait. Close up the hole with some grass: level down 
mounds, so that if the poison does not kill all the gophers )-ou 
will soon discover their new mounds. If there are many 
mounds put the poison in a number of places. 

Bisulphide of carbon is also successfully used in killing 
gophers, though owing to the fact that their runways are con- 
tinuous and do not run down to a pocket, as does a squirrel hole, 
it is more difficult to make the vapor effective. Recently 
smokers have come into wide use and are approved by man\'. 

Trapping Gophers. — Some are very successful in using 
gopher traps, of which there are several styles sold. Gophers 
come to the surface in the night, and generally close their holes 
soon after daybreak. They frequently emerge again about noon, 
and a third time late in the afternoon. It is best to set the trap 
in an open hole, still the holes may be opened if the dirt is still 
fresh, with a good prospect of the gopher's return. Therefore 
the trapper may make his rounds three times a day, as above 
indicated. Care should be exercised in preparing the h le for 
the insertion of the trap; a straight hole for a distance of at 
least ten inches, with no lateral branches, otherwise the gopher 
in pushing out the dirt will likely enough thrust the trap to one 
side, cover it up, or spring it, without being exposed to its grasp. 
The trapper should be supplied with at least two varieties of 
traps — one for the larger gophers and the other for the smaller 
ones. The common iron gopher trap, which springs downward, 
is excellent for the former, and the small wire trap, which springs 
upward, is generally successful with the latter. The size of the 
hole is indicative of the size of the gopher. Either trap should 
be inserted nearly its full length into the hole, pressed down 
firmly, and a little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being 
easily pushed out. After the trap is set it is well to cover the 
opening with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes require 
a little enlarging, but care should be taken to make the fit as 
close as possible, that the body of the gopher may be kept near 
the center, and thus more exposed to the prongs of the trap. 
In the fourth place, the trapper should have a small spade and a 
little gouge-shaped implement for trimming the hole. 

Gopher Pitfalls. — If gophers are abundant, large num- 
bers can be captured in this way: Dig a trench around the 
orchard or vineyard about the width of a spade and from four- 
teen to sixteen inches deep. In the bottom of the ditches, about 



556 Injurious Birds. 

a hundred feet apart, sink five-gallon oil cans, leaving the tops 
level with the ditch bottom. The gophers migrate in the night, 
and in attempting to come into the inclosure will fall into the 
<iitch and then run along the bottom until they drop into the 
cans. Of course the ditch must not be wider than the cans. 
As many as fifteen live gophers have been found in one can. 
The cats soon learn to help themselves out of the cans. The 
ditch must be kept clean, and if any roads cross the tract, set 
up a board at night, to compel them to tumble in the ditch. This 
ditch should be constructed about the first of June, when the 
outside feed begins to dry up, and the pests rush for the culti- 
vated ground. With such protection from the outside, and the 
use of poison and traps inside, the trees and vines can be saved. 

Protecting Tree Trunks. — If one has but few trees to 
protect, as in gardens, cylinders of wire netting placed around 
the trunks and buried about a foot into the ground, have been 
successfully used. Take wire netting two feet wide and cut it 
lengthwi-^e, and put the cut edge down, so the projecting wires 
will keep the gopher from digging under. 

DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS. 

Fruit growers generally appreciate the value of insectivor- 
ous birds, but there are feathered pests which do such ruinous 
work in disbudding the trees in spring-time, and in destroying 
ripe fruit, that productive measures have to be adopted against 
them. The so-called "California linnet," which is not a linnet, 
but a finch {CarpodaCus frontalis), a persistent destroyer of 
buds, and the English sparrow, infamous the world over, are 
probably the most grievous pests, though there are other destruc- 
tive birds, including the beautiful California quail, which is pro- 
tected by law, and yet must be destroyed in some parts of the 
State or the grape crop must be abandoned. 

For the killing of the smaller birds poison is usually em- 
ployed. To keep the poison out of the way of domestic fowls take 
a shallow box and put it on the end of a pole four or five feet from 
the ground. In the box sprinkle corn meal and a very little 
strychnine, which mixture the birds eat and are very soon killed. 
It will not hurt dogs or cats to eat the dead birds, for the reason 
that there is not enough poison absorbed by the bird. Another 
plan is to put the strychnine in pieces of apple and stick them 
on the ends of limbs of the trees. Poisoned water has been used 
effectively in dry weather. Some advocate the use of the shot- 
gun, No. 30 caliber, with a small charge of good powder and 
No. 10 shot. As many as five hundred linnets have been killed 
in two daj^s. The advantage of this plan is that one kills linnets 
and not other birds, while poison kills both friends and foes. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



PROTECTION FROM WINDS AND FROSTS. 

Though the climate of California renders unnecessary the 
protection against rigorous weather which fruit growers in some 
other parts of the world have to provide, there is often advan- 
tage in securing shelter from winds and protection from late 
frosts. 

The general subject of forest planting in California, and the 
effect of preservation and extension of our forest area upon our 
fruit industries, has received the attention of our best-informed 
growers.* The planting of shelter belts at intervals across our 
broad valleys at right angles to the courses of prevailing or 
most violent winds, has also been urged with great force. These 
greater enterprises and projects are beyond the scope of this 
treatise. It is rather concerning the planting of trees to shelter 
individual possessions that a few suggestions will be offered. 

It has been already remarked that on the immediate coast 
the successful growth of fruit will sometimes be wholly depend- 
ent upon proper shelter from prevailing winds, and in regions 
farther from the ocean, the topography may induce strong cur- 
rents of air which will illy affect trees and vines. In all such 
places the fruit grower should plant wind-breaks, and will find 
himself well repaid for the ground they occupy, by the success- 
ful production on the protected area. 

In the interior valleys there is also need of shelter from 
occasional high winds which may visit the orchards either in 
summer or winter, and prove destructive both to trees and fruit. 
In some cases long lines of sheltering trees have been cut down 
because they affected the fruiting of orchard trees planted too 
near them, and afterwards the losses through lack of protection 
were far greater than would have been incurred by retaining 
them. Hon. E. W. Holmes, of Rivers-de, recently wrote as 
follows:"!- 



* See, for example, the essays by Abbot Kinney, cf Los .-Vngeles County, m Reports State Board 
of Horticulture, 1886 and 1888. 

t Riverside Enterprise, May, i888. 

(557) 



55? Trees Desirable for Windtreaks. 

The past one or two seasons have sent us winds more violent than had ever been 
known since the country has been settled by Americans, and the unwisdom of the 
course pursued was fully demonstrated to the satisfaction at least of those who had bear- 
ing orchards. Crops were depreciated fully one-half on an average. It is evident 
that the loss of fruit in the older settlement by reason of the absence of such wind- 
breaks would far exceed in value all that would have been lost in the past few years 
if the outside rows of fruit trees, rather than the wind-break, had been sacrificed. In 
some localities, where it has heretofore been the proud boast that " we never have 
hard winds to damage our trees or fruit," not only was the fruit crop almost entirely 
ruined, but whole orchards were literally destroyed. It is true that such localities are 
ordinarily exempt, but there is no telling in this country when or where wind or frost 
may not inflict injury, and against such possible danger there is no insurance except 
in the planting of wind-breaks. It is manifestly more economical in the long run to 
provide such protection, even though a single row of fruit trees has to be omitted to 
give it space. The lesson of the past season has led to the replanting, in many in- 
stances, of rows of eucalyptus on the very line where four or five years ago such trees 
were removed. 

These remarks are applicable to all parts of the State, ex- 
cept, perhaps, small areas especially protected by local configura- 
tion, and their lesson should be heeded. 

What Kind of Trees to Plant. — This is a question 
concerning which there is much to be learned. Data is ac- 
cumulating in the growth of trees planted to test their suitability, 
and the future planter will have more certain ground to proceed 
upon than is now available. Mention will be made, however, of 
a few trees which are now most widely grown. 

The most widely planted shelter tree is the Eucalyptus 
globulus, or Australian blue gum. It is a rapid grower and 
voracious feeder, and wonderful for root extension, for which it 
has been roundly abused. It is doubtful, however, whether we 
have a better tree for high growth, and consequent large area 
over which its shelter will be felt. It is deficient in undergrowth, 
and if a close screen is desired, the planting of eucalyptus and 
Monterey c\-press {Cupress7is macrocarpa^ is a common practice. 
It also attains good height, but its broad, thick base fills the gaps 
between the bare stems of the gum trees. Another tree which 
has often been planted with the blue gum, to supply a thick, low 
growth, is the pepper tree {^Schinus violle). It is also grown in 
rows by itself. It makes a dense head, grows rapidl}', and 
flourishes without much care. Trees planted eighteen feet apart 
will soon come together and make a dense wall of very beauti- 
ful, bright, light green foliage. The pepper is not only a good 
wind-break, but also an excellent dust-catcher. Unlike most 
trees which are used for this purpose, it does not become laden 
with dust. The leaves are smooth and glossy, and therefore 
repel the dust particles which, stopped in their flight by the 
dense foliage of the tree, instead of clinging to it drop to the 
ground. The growth of the pepper tree near the coast is much 



Trees Desirable for Windbreaks. 559 

slower than that of the Monterey cypress. The eucalyptus 
and the cypress for the coast, and the eucalyptus and pep- 
per for the interior valle3's, make probably as perfect a wall 
of foliage all the year round as can be had. The blue gum is, 
however, somewhat subject to frost killing, especiall)' when 
young, and in very frosty places is objected to on that account. 
A number of other species of eucalyptus are now being planted 
experimentally, and probably more hardy ones will be lound. 
The red gum {^Eucalyptus rcstrata) has alrcad}' attained some 
popularity. 

The Monterey pine {Pinus insignis) is a rapid, high-growing 
tree, and though a native of the coast, has proved itself well 
adapted to the interior valleys of the central portion of the State. 
Its foliage is dense for a pine, and its shelter therefore the more 
complete. A native white cedar [Libocedrus dcairrens) has also 
been employed as a shelter tree in the San Joaquin Valley, and is 
commended as a rapid grower in the interior as on the coast. 
Its ability to stand drought, heat, and frost, is said to exceed 
that of any of the conifers of the sea-coast. It stands well in 
the most exposed situations, as its roots run very deep into the 
earth, and it is claimed that it does not sap the fcrtilit)' from the 
soil around its base as with the blue gum. It is also said to be 
less subject to frost injury than the Monterey cypress and pine. 
The Osage orange {Madura aiirantiacd) is also used both as a 
hedge and as standard trees which have attained considerable 
size. 

All the foregoing are evergreen trees, and therefore afford 
protection summer and winter alike. Of deciduous trees there 
are many which may be well employed. The California black 
walnut described on page 58 makes a very satisfactory growth 
both in the interior and upon the coast, and is largely used for 
road-side planting. The California broad-leaved maple {Acer 
mac?'ophylla) is very beautiful, rapid in growth, and dense in 
foliage, and the same is true of the box-elder {Acer ncgrundo), 
but probably both trees are especially suited to the coast regions. 
Of the poplars, the Carolina {Popidus inonilifera) is best, because 
of its breadth, density of foliage, and comparative freedom from 
suckering. The locust {Robinia psendacid) is used to some 
extent, but its suckering is very objectionable. 

Quite a number of the larger growing deciduous fruit trees 
are used to some extent along the exterior lines of orchards lor 
the protection of the inclosure. The fig, the walnut, the chest- 
nut, seedling almonds and apricots, are especialh' commended 
for such use. 

This enumeration is not intended to be comprehensixe. 



560 Cultivation of Roadside Trees. 

There are scores of trees which arc planted to a greater or less 
extent. Some, like the acacias and willows, are under a ban 
because of their liability to harbor scale insects, but this habit is, 
of course, also indulged in by many trees which have been men- 
tioned, though perhaps to a less extent. 

Growing Trees from Seed.— Much that has been said 
in Chapter VIII will be suggestive to one who desires to grow 
his own shelter trees from seed. Trees from small seeds are best 
grown in boxes, and in many cases, as with eucalyptus and 
cypress especially, do best when put in permanent place when 
quite small. Whether put at once in permanent place, or in 
nursery, the land should be deeply worked and the young plant 
well planted and cared for. 

Cultivation of Shelter Trees. — If one desires rapid 
growth of shelter trees, they should be cultivated the first few 
years as thoroughly as an orchard. Much disappointment 
results from allowing road-side trees to shift for themselves in a 
hard, dry soil. With such treatment the root extension is 
naturally most rapid into the cultivated orchard ground, which is 
undesirable. Cultivate and enrich the road-side, and the tree 
will grow chiefly on the waste land. At the same time the road- 
side will be prevented from producing vast quantities of weed 
seed to be blown over the fence, and the place will have a name 
for neatness which is too rare even in California. 

protection from frosts. 

The use of smoke from fires of rubbish and tar to protect 
vines from frost in small valleys is general. The piles are pre- 
pared and fired when the thermometer drops to a dangerous 
point. Some use automatic electric alarms to arouse the work- 
men to the necessity of firing the piles. 



Part Tenth : Miscellaneous. 

CHAPTER XL. 



MELON GROWING. 

Melons, those delicious connecting links between the fruit 
and vegetable classes, reach notable size and excellence in Cali- 
fornia, and the production of them is a leading industry in 
certain sections of the State. The water-melon is produced in 
largest quantities in the Lodi district, of San Joaquin County, 
though respectable quantities are also grown elsewhere. The 
canteloupe, or musk-melon is a specialty in the regions of early 
fruits, for the product is often very profitable if it strikes the 
market early enough, but there is quite apt to be an oversupply. 

Soils for Melons. — Melons are chiefly grown on warm 
and moist alluvial soils, a sedimentary deposit by recent over- 
flow usually being very satisfactory. The surface may be sandy 
or gravelly — a foot or two of such material overlaying a moist 
adobe has often yielded excellent results. Good melons have 
been grown on " slickens," or mining ^/^^rzj' deposited by streams, 
providing the layer is not too thick, or the materials too coarse. 
A gravelly-loam wash from adjacent hillsides is also good, and 
the growth on a large scale at Lodi, is upon a deep, warm loam, 
kind in cultivation and rich in plant food — land which is now 
being largely planted to peaches, almonds, and other fruits 
which relish light soil and plenty of summer heat. Any such 
soil which retains enough moisture and is sufficiently removed 
from immediate coast influences, or protected from too prevalent 
low summer temperature, yields a melon of excellent size and 
full sweetness. 

Preparation of Soil for Melons. — The deep and 
thorough cultivation advised in preparation for planting of 
small fruits should be given to ground for melons. Where 
rainfall is light, a thorough summer-fallowing the season before 
planting to melons, gives the crop a well-prepared soil and insures 
it abundant moisture by holding over a part, at least, of the 
previous year's rainfall. 

'36 (561) 



562 Melon Growing. 

Planting and Cultivation. — Where extra early melons 
are desired, a situation as free from frost as possible is selected, 
and the seed is planted in February after the heaviest rains and 
severest cold of January, or the plants are grown under cover 
and planted out later. The usual time for planting is, however, 
in the month of March, the grower taking the chances of hav- 
ing to replant a case of frost-killing. The seeds of water-melons 
are planted five or six in a hill and covered about three inches, 
the hill of water-melons being about eight feet apart each way, 
and of canteloupes somewhat less. When the plants are well 
under way, they are thinned to two or three in a hill, and some- 
times extra size is attained by thinning to one or two melons to 
the vine, by suppressing other blooms after the earlier ones have 
set. 

The thinning out of the plants is done at the hand-hoeing, 
which is usually the first cultivation which is given. Afterwards 
the whole ground is gone over with the cultivator, usually twice 
at intervals, and the vines are then left to extend themselves, 
no further work being done upon them unless there is necessity 
of irrigation. 

Irrigation. — Melons are usually produced on a large scale 
without irrigation, and even in the drier parts of the State, 
moisture enough can be retained in the soil by cultivation, pro- 
viding the seed is sown early. In some places, however, the use 
of a little water is of advantage in securing desirable size, and 
enough has been raised by a single windmill to supply ten acres, 
by making application directly to the hill. 

Ripening. — The earliest water-melons usually appear in 
San Francisco about July i, and from July 10 for three months 
the market is well supplied. The fruit ripens continuously, and 
when frost has not occurred to harm the vines, water-melons have 
been plucked as late as January i. The crop in the Lodi dis- 
trict is usually counted about one car load, or one thousand two 
hundred marketable melons, per acre. The best market season 
is, of course, during the warm weather, and when the market is 
oversupplied, something is secured by gathering the seed from 
the surplus fruit. Seed is also taken from melons which ripen 
after the market season is over. 

Varieties. — The most popular water-melon is known as 
the •' Lodi melon," from the place where most largely produced. 
It seems to be different from the standard Eastern sorts. Good 
specimens usually weigh from twenty-five to thirty pounds, are 
quite elongated, skin very light green and thin, flesh red, tender 



Melon Groxfjing. 563 

and sweet. Other varieties are introduced here as fast as 
brought out in the East, and are grown to some extent. One 
called the Mammoth is quite largely grown in Fresno and Tulare 
Counties, and has attained a size of ninety to one hundred and 
twenty pounds. 

Several varieties of cantaloupes are grown; a green nutmeg 
variety, called by some the " California Netted," is the most 
popular, though some large yellow canteloupes are grown. The 
Cassdba is grown to some extent, and is highly praised as a 
winter melon in regions near the coast, where it ripens late. 



CHAPTER XL I. 



FRUIT PACKAGES. 

Though there have been many committee reports and gen- 
eral discussions on the sizes of packages best for the different 
fruits, there is as yet no uniformity in the practice of growers, 
nor is it possible to present a statement which can be com- 
mended as complete. The growers of different localities seem 
to arrive at partial agreement among themselves, and the box- 
makers supply the sizes to suit, but there cannot be said to be 
any general agreement among the producers of the State. It is 
quite possible that there will be improvement, however, in this 
respect, because of the increase of distant shipments, and 
because uniformity in size of package in loading cars is very 
important. 

PACKAGES FOR EASTERN SHIPMENT. 

The following schedule of sizes with indication of weight of 
contents is approved by the California Fruit Union: — 

The ends of all boxes should be made of three-fourths-inch stuff, and all cleats 
three-eighths-inch stuff. The sides, tops, and bottoms of cherry boxes should be of 
one-quarter-inch stuff; the sides made of two strips each of one-quarter-inch stuff and 
seven-eighths of an inch in width. Peach, pear and plum boxes should be made of 
three-sixteenths-inch stuff. All the lumber used should be dressed as smooth as possi- 
ble. 

MEASUREMENTS AND CAPACITY, 

Cherry boxes, capacity ten pounds. Outside measurements — eighteen inches in 
length; ten and seven-eighths inches in width; three inches in depth. Inside measure- 
ments — length, sixteen and one-half inches: width, ten and three-eighths inches; 
depth, two and one-half inches. 

Plum boxes, capacity twenty pounds. Outside measurements — nineteen and 
three-fourths inches in length; twelve and one-eighth inches in width; four and three- 
eighths inches in depth. Inside measurements — length, eighteen and one-half inches; 
width, eleven and three-fourths inches; depth, four inches. 

There are four sizes of peach and apricot boxes. 

First, capacity twenty-two pounds. Outside measurements — nineteen and three- 
fourths inches in length; twelve and one-eighth inches in width; four and three-fourths 
inches in depth. Inside measurements — length, eighteen and one-half inches; width, 
eleven and three-fourths inches; depth, four and three-eighths inches. 

Second, capacity twenty five pounds. Outside measurements — nineteen and 
three-fourths inches in length; twelve and one-eighth inches in width; five and one- 
fourth inches in depth. Inside measurements — length, eighteen and one-half inches; 
width, elevpn and three-fourths inches; depth, four and seven-eighths inches. 

(564) 



Boxes for Different Fruits. 565 

Third, capacity twenty-seven pounds. Outside measurements — nineteen and 
three-fourths inches in length; twelve and one-eighth inches in width; five and three- 
fourths inches in depth. Inside measurements — length, eighteen and one-half inches; 
width, eleven and three-fourths inches; depth, five and three-eighths inches. 

Fourth, capacity thirty pounds. Outside measurements— nineteen and three- 
fourths inches in length; twelve and one-eighth inches in width; six and one-fourth 
inches in depth. Inside measurements — length, eighteen and one-half inches; width, 
eleven and three-fourths inches; depth, five and seven-eighths inches. 

Pear boxes, capacity forty pounds. Outside measurements — nineteen and three- 
fourths inches in length; twelve and one-eighth inches in width; eight and seven- 
eighths inches in depth. Inside measurements — length, eighteen and one-half inches; 
width, eleven and three-fourths inches; depth, eight and one-half inches. 

PACKAGES FOR LOCAL SALE. 

The sizes described above for distant shipments also pre- 
vail locally with apricot and peach boxes, and to a certain extent 
for other fruits sold in this State, but there are other sizes which 
are at present predominant, and an attempt will be made to 
describe some of them, as follows: — 

Apple and Pear. — The box now commonly used for 
apples and pears has top, bottom, and sides of one-quarter 
inch, and ends of five-eighths stuff The length is twenty-two 
inches; ends ten by twelve inches. This is a free box for apples 
and pears, and is called a fifty-pound box, but it contains less 
weight. The old standard apple box is still used in shipments of 
apples to Australia, and is one inch deeper than the dimensions 
here given. 

Cherry. — The cherry box is fifteen and one-half inches in 
length; ends eight and one-quarter by three and one-half 

Fig. — The two-layer fig box is twenty inches long; ends 
twelve by three and one-half inches, and holds about twenty 
pounds. The single layer fig box is the same length and width, 
but two inches deep and holds about twelve pounds. 

Grapes. — The grape box is substantially the same as that 
used for plums in distant shipment, as described above, except 
that the depth is usually five inches and the contents about 
twenty-five pounds of fruit. Grapes are also shipped in four- 
pound splint baskets, of which four go in a half crate, or eight 
in a whole crate. 

Melons. — Cantaloupes are usually marketed in crates 
thirty-eight inches long, sixteen wide and fifteen deep. Water- 
melons come in bulk in cars or in large cases of all descriptions. 

Oranges. — The flat orange box is twenty-two inches long, 
ends seven and three-quarters by seventeen and one-half inches. 
It is divided in two parts by a central partition. The prevailing 
orange box at present is about twenty-six and one-half inches 
long, ends elev^en and one-half inches square, with a central 
partition. 



566 Dried Fruit Boxes and Sacks. 

Small Fruits. — Berries and currants are marketed in 
chests or crates which contain ten, fifteen or twenty drawers. 
The drawers are fifteen and one-half inches long, ends eight and 
one-quarter by one and three-quarters inches. The sizes of 
drawers, and consequently of the crates containing them, have 
been constantly decreasing. The old drawer held five pounds 
of strawberries; the present weight is about four pounds. 

PACKAGE.S FOR DRIED FRUITS. 
There is more confusion in sizes of dried fruit boxes than with 
fresh fruits, though the weights of twenty-five and fifty pounds 
is observed with substantial unanimity. One set of dimensions 
for a twenty-five-pound box is given on page 520; other com- 
mended sizes are as follows: — 

TwENTY-FiVK-PouND Box. — Inside measurements— length, thirteen and three- 
fourths inches; width, nine and three-fourths inches; depth, five and three-fourths 
inches. Outside measurements — length, fifteen and one-fourth inches; width, ten 
and one-half inches; depth, six and one-half inches. Top, bottom, and sides, three- 
eighths of an inch thick; ends, three-fourths of an inch thick. The above makes a 
thick box, while the dimensions below make a more flat package. Inside measure- 
ments — length, sixteen inches; width, nine inches; depth, five inches. Outside 
measurements — length, seventeen and one-fourth inches; width, nine and three-fourths 
inches; depth, five and three-fourths inches. Top, bottom, and sides, three-eighths of 
an inch thick; ends, five-eighths of an inch thick. 

FiFTY-PouND-Bo.x. — Inside measurements — length, fifteen and • one-fourth 
inches; width, nine inches; depth, nine inches. Outside measurements — length, 
seventeen and one-fourth inches; width, ten inches; depth, ten inches. Top, bottom, 
and sides, one-half of an inch thick; ends, one inch thick. 

An attempt at uniformity of width and depth was made by 
one large packer who used a box nineteen and one-quarter 
inches long, ends ten and one-half by nine and three-eighths, to 
hold fifty pounds; and the same length and width with a depth 
of four and three-quarter inches for a twenty-five pound box. 
He also used a ten-pound box, nine and one-half inches long, 
with ends eight and three-quarters by five and one-half inches. 

A twenty-five-pound prune box, which is used to some ex- 
tent, is twelve and one-half inches long; ends eight inches square. 

Raisin Boxes. — In raisin boxes there is substantial uni- 
formity of size, and contents are commendably full weight; 
twenty-pound raisin box, nineteen and seven-eighths inches long, 
ends nine by four and three-quarter inches; half box, same 
length and width, depth two and three-eighths inches; quarter 
box, same length and width, depth one and one-quarter inches; 
eighth box, fifteen and one-half inches long, ends six by one and 
one-quarter inches. 

Sacks for Dried Fruit. — White cotton sacks, made of 
what is called heavy export goods, are used for shipment of dried 
fruits. They are twenty by thirty-six inches and hold about 
eighty pounds of fruit. 



INDEX. 



Page. 

Acorns, edible, , 60 

Almond, The 492 

dormant buds 493 

grow ng from seed 99 

hulling and bleaching 493 

pruning 493 

situations and soils 492 

wild 52 

varieties 495 

Apple in California 222 

drying 522 

insects 535, 537, 549 

localities for 223, 226, 234 

native crab 49 

planting, distance 227 

pruning " 228 

scab or smut 231 

second crop 225 

see Jlings, growing 97, 98 

shipping '. 234 

soils for 227 

Southern California 225, 233 

storehouse for , 231 

summer and fall 233 

table of varieties -245, 246 

when to pick 230 

winter 233 

worm 549, 550 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Alexander 237 

American Pippin 242 

American Summer Pearmain 237 

Autumn Pearmain 240 

Autumn Strawberry 238 

Bailey's Sweet 2 9 

Baldwin 238 

Beauty of Kent 238 

Ben Davis 238 

Blue Pearmain 239 

Buckingham 239 

Carolina Red June 235 

Cayuga Red Streak 238 

Chenango Strawberry 237 

Cooper's MarKet 240 

Detroit Red 238 

Duchess of Oldenburg 236 

Duckett 239 

Early Harvest . . 236 

Karly Joe 236 

Early Strawberrj' 236 

Eguiiietely 239 

Esopus Spitzenburgh 240 

Fallawater 241 

Fall Pippin 237 

Fall Wine 237 

Fameuse 238 

Gennetting 23 . 

Golden Pearmain 240 

Golden Russet 239 

Golden Sweet 237 

Gloria ]Mundi 238 



Page. 

Gravenstein 236 

Green Newtown Pippin 242 

Grimes Golden Pippin 240 

Grindstone 240 

Holland Pippin 237 

Hoover 238 

Jennetting 235 

Jonathan 239 

Kentucky Red Streak 241 

Keswick Codlin 236 

Kmg of Tompkins County 238 

Lady 241 

Large Early Rough 236 

Late Strawberrj- 238 

Lawver 239 

Limber Twig .... 241 

Maiden's Blush 237 

Monmouth Pippin 239 

Neivto'Mn Spitzenburgh 239 

Nickajack 241 

Nonsuch 237 

Northern Spy 241 

Ortley .., 239 

Peck's Pleasant 240 

Porter 236 

President 237 

Rarabo 238 

Rawles Janet 241 

Red Astracan 236 

Red Bietigheimer . . 236 

Red Canada 240 

Red Winter Pearmain .... 241 

Rhode Island Greening 238 

Romanite 240 

Rome Beauty 241 

Ro.\bury Russet 238 

Shockley 240 

Smith's Cider 240 

Smokehouse 237 

Snow 238 

Spice Sweet 237 

Spitzenburgh 240 

Stark 242 

Steele's Red 240 

Summer Queen 236 

Swaar 239 

Tuipehocken 241 

Twenty-ounce 238 

■Vandevere 239 

Virginia Greening 241 

Wagener 241 

Washington Strawberry 237 

Wa.ven 240 

White Astracan 236 

White Bellflotver . 239 

White Juneating 235 

White Winter Pearmain 241 

Winesap 239 

Yellow Bellflower 240 

Yellow June 235 

Yellow Newtown Pippin 242 

(567) 



568 



Index. 



Page. 
Varieties Calif ortiiaii. 

Acme 244 

Beauty of Alameda 243 

Calistoga 243 

Clymans Pippin 243 

Cook's Seedling 243 

E. Spitzenburgh Seedling 244 

Excelsior 244 

Lucy's Red Cheek 243 

Marshall's Red 243 

Merkley's Red 243 

Sexton's (Golden 243 

Skinner's Seedling 242 

Violet 242 

Walsh 243 

Varieties: Crabs. 

Hyslop 242 

Large Red Siberian 242 

Large Yellow Siberian 242 

Montreal Beauty 242 

Transcendant 242 

Whitney's 242 

Algaroba 469 

Alligator Pear 469 

Apricot 247 

diseases of 256 

distances for 251 

drying 522 

gathering for drying 521 

growing seedlings 99 

localities for 248 

local methods 254 

old trees 247 

on almond root 250 

pruning 252 

stocks and soils for 249 

table of varieties 264 

thinning 255 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Alberge de Montgamet 262 

Blenheim 269 

Boulbon 262 

Breda 260 

Breda, Malcolm's .*.... 262 

Early Golden 258, 262 

Hemskirke 259 

Large Early 258 

Large Early Mnntgamet. . 262 

M oorpark 260 

Peach 259 

Red Masculine 262 

Roman 260 

Royal 258 

Shipley 259 

St. Ambroise 262 

Turkey 260 262 

Varieties: Lalifornian. 

Allison 263 

Brier's Royal Golden 263 

Christian's Moorpark 263 

Eureka 262 

Finley's Peach 262 

Goodrich's Peach 262 

Gorley 263 

Hinds' Seedling 263 

HoUiday's Seedling 263 

Jackson's Seedling 263 

Newcastle 262 

Pringle 262 

Routier's Peach 262 

Smith's Triumph 262 

Thissell's Seedling 262 

Thomas' Late 263 

Vestal's Moorpark ■; 262 

Wood's Early 263 

Ashes, value of 191 



Page. 

Banana, The 462 

garden culture 463 

varieties 463 

Barberrj', native 56 

Bergamot 461 

Berries and Currants 472 

Berries drying 522 

Birds, poisoning 556 

Blackberry. The 473 

cultivation 474 

distances for ... . 473 

longevity of 475 

propagation 473 

pruning 474 

white 53 

wild 53 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Boston H igh Bush 476 

Crandall's Early 476 

Dorchester 476 

Early Harvest 476 

Early Wilson 476 

Lawton .. 476 

Kittatinny 476 

Varieties: California^. 

Aughinbaugh 476 

Evergreen 476 

Blooming, dates of 18 

Borers 546,547 

Bolting to prevent breaking 154 

Bones, treatment of 190 

Boxes, fruit 564 

Budding, common method 105, 106 

June 107 

over old trees 115 

Spring 107 

Bud. cutting to a 168 

Buds, dormant 107 

Cannery, Petaluma 511 

Cannerj', outfit for 512 

fruit 509 

method 510 

product 509 

small 513 

Carob, The 470 

Caterpillars 532 

Chain for hexagonal laying out 131 

Chamisal and chaparral 84 

Charcoal making 90 

Cherimoyer 463 

Cherry 265 

delayed fruiting of 269 

distances for 271 

evergreen 52 

exposures for 270 

gum disease 277 

grafting the 275 

localities for 266 

old trees 265 

pests and diseases 276 

picking and packing 278 

pruning the 272 

seedlings growing 98 

slug 53S 

soils for the 267 

stocks for the . ... 98 

tables of varieties 283, 284 

wild 51 

Varieties: Introduced. 

American Amber 280 

American Heart 279 

Arch Duke 280 

Kauman's May. . . . .. 279 

Belle d' Orleans 279 

Belle Magnifique 



hidex. 



569 



Page. 

Bigarreau 280 

Black Eagle 2S0 

Black Spanish 281 

Black Tartarian 280 

Burr's Seedling 280 

Cleveland Bigarreau 280 

Coe's Transparent . . 279 

Early Black Guigne 279 

Early Lamaurie 279 

Early Purple Guigne 279 

Early Richmond 280 

Early White Heart 279 

Elkhorn . . 280 

Elton 280 

English Morello 28: 

Governor Wood 280 

Graffion 280 

Great Bigarreau 280 

Guigne Marbre 279 

Guigne Noir Luisante 281 

Kentish 280 

Knight's Early Black .... 279 

Late Duke 280 

May Duke 280 

Monstrtieiise de Mezel 280 

Napoleon Bigarreau 280 

Oxheart 280 

Pontiac 280 

Reine Hortense ........ 281 

Rockport Bigarreau 279 

Royal A nn 280 

Schmidt's Bigarreau 280 

Tradescant's Black Heart 280 

Werder's Early Black 279 

White Tartarian 279 

Yellow Spanish 280 

Varieties: Pacific Coast. 

Bing 282 

Black Mastodon 2821 

Black Republican 2S1 j 

California Advance 282 

Centennial 282 

Lewelling 282 

Lincoln 282 

Oregon 282 

Purity 282 

Thompson's Seedling 282 

Chestnut, The 496 

budding and grafting . 497 

chinquapin .... 59 

growing trees . . 100, 497 

ma tons 497 

varieties 496 

Citron, The 461 

Citrus fruits 438 

Clearing Land for (ruit 86 

brushy 88 

cost of ... 85 

steam puller 86 

with powder , 87 

time to cut to kill 91 

Climate, divisions of California 11 

of California, characteristics of 20, 27 

of California, why mild 10 

foothill 16 

mountain 17 

coast 13 

valley 15 

value of 9 

value of dr>' 26 

Cloudiness, east and west 25 

Coast pests and diseases 14 

Codlin moth 549, 550 

Composting 195 

Conifers native 82 



Page. 

Corner, to find true 124 

Cranberries 477 

wild 53 

Crops between trees or vines 172 

Crystallizing fruit 513 

Cultivation 169 

cost of 184 

methods of 174, 180 

shallow, results of 182 

summer 180, 183 

to retain moisture 169 

without plowing 181 

Curculio, plum 551 

Currants 477 

culture of 478 

regions for 477 

varieties grown 479 

wild 54 

Custard apple 463 

Cutworms 531 

Cuttings, fruit trees from loi, 458 

vines from 364 

single eye 364, 405 

Dates 395 

at the missions 395 

bearing age of a 400 

bearing in Solano 396 

blooming of 400 

first fruit 395 

from seed 399 

from suckers 399 

propagation of 398 

requirements of 397 

soils for 398 

transplanting 4°° 

Digging nursery trees 138 

Dormant buds 107, 114 

Drainage desirable 219 

Drains, kinds of 220 

Dried Fruit (see fruits) 514 

boxes for 566 

cutting sheds 518 

dipping 519, 525, 529 

floor near Riverside 517 

grading and cleaning 519 

packing 520 

product of 509 

sacks for 566 

sulphuring 518 

sweating 519. 5^5 

Evaporation, rapidity of 171 

Evaporators S'3 

Fertilizers, in California . . 186 

caution in use of . 197 

for trees and vines 188 

methods of applying 197 

value of green 199 

when necessary 187 

Fig 402 

bearing age 409 

budding 40S 

caprification 409 

drying 522 

foes of 410 

from cuttings 40S 

from seeds 4°? 

grafting 4°? 

planting and pruning 408 

regions for 4°3 

size of old trees .... 402 

soils for 404 



570 



I) id ex. 



Page. 
Varieties: Introduced. 

Brown Ischia 411 

Brown Turkey 411 

Brunswick 411 

Bulletin Smyrna 412 

California Black 411 

Gros Marseillaise 411 

Marseillaise 411 

Pacific White 411 

San Pedro , 411 

White Adriatic 411 

White Ischia 411 

Filbert growing 497 

imported 497 

native 58 

Fresno raisin making 526 

Frost in foot-hills 16 

Frosts, dates of late and early 18 

Frosts, preventing 560 

Fruit gardens, early 73 

Fruit interest, extent of. So, 509 

Fruits, crystallizing 513 

drying 514 

drying floors 516 

early records condensed 76, 77 

graders 

grafted, first in California 66 

mineral, constituents of 189 

packages for 564 

packing 520 

protecting from dew 516 

late ripening 14 

Fruits, locations for 12 

Fruit shipments eastern 79. So 

boxes for 564 

Fruit trees, dwarf 73 

Gooseberry, the 479 

culture of 479 

requirements of 479 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Berkeley 481 

Champion 482 

Pyallup Mammoth 482 

wild : 54 

Gopher, the 277, 410 

Gophers, killing 554 

pitfall for 556 

trapping 555 

Grafting 108, 114 

bark 117 

cleft no, 116, 370 

root 112, 113 

side Ill, 369 

top 113 

whip Ill, 371 

wax for 109, 116 

waxed bands 109, 371 

Graft, time to 117 

Grafts, planting out 112 

Grape, area of 360 

budding 367 

conditions of ripening 22, 23, 24, 26 

distance 373 

from cuttings 364, 374 

from layers 363 

from seed 362 

grafting 368 

history in California 356 

insects on 534, 535 

interest, extent of 359 

literature 359 

mildew 386 

plan I ing devices 374 

planting in rows 373 

pruning 377 



Page. 

pruning, long 381, 383 

pruning, short 380 

rooting in nursery 366 

season, length of 361 

soils for 361 

stakes, twine, etc 383 

state aid to 358 

sulphuring 386 

summer pruning 384 

table of varieties 393 

wild 52 

wine, varieties of 394 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Black Corinth 392 

Black Cornichon 391 

Black Ferrara 392 

Black Hamburg 391 

Black Mai voise 390 

Black Morocco . . . , 392 

Black Muscat. . . . ." 391 

Canon Hall Muscat 392 

Chasselas de Fortainebleau 389 

Chasselas Rose 389 

Chasselas Victoria 389 

Cinsaut 392 

Early Black July 389 

Early Madelene 386 

Emperor 391 

Fiber Zagos 392 

Flame Tokay 391 

Gros Cowman 392 

Larga Bloom 391 

Mission 390 

Muscat of Alexandria 390 

Muscatel 394 

Muscat F rontignan 392 

Palomino 390 

Purple Damascus 391 

Rose of Peru 391 

Sabalskanski 392 

S-weetivater 399 

Sultana 891 

Verdel 892 

White Champion 392 

White Cornichon 392 

White Malaga 391 

White Tokay 392 

Varieties; Calif orniati. 

Isabella Regia 392 

Grasshoppers, killing 535 

Guava, The 464 

Gypsum, uses of. 192 

Heat, deficient on coast 14 

importance of. 20 

summer, records of 22 

Heeling in young trees 139 

Hen manure 193 

Hexagonal planting 127, 128, 129, 130 

Hickory and pecan 499 

Hillside, rows on 125 

use of triangle on 131 

Holes, blasting in hard-pan 133 

digging 135 

Humidity, Atmospheric 25 

east and west 27, 2 

deficient 28 

excessive 26 

Insects, guarding against 138 

injurious 530 

literature of 531 

remedies for scale 545 

scale 537 

Irrigation 200 

distributing manure bj' 198 



Index. 



571 



Page. 



ditches cementing 

in early days 74, 

in basins or checks 

in furrows 

in nursery 

leveling for 

locating contour lines 

manurial value of 

measuring 

methods of 

practice in different counties 

reservoirs, small 

running ditches for 

subirrigation 

suggestions for 

taken from ditches 

wells a d pumps for 

wheels for 

when desirable 

winter 

Jujube of Commerce 

Jujube native 

Juneberry 

Junebuds 107, 



Knife for cling peaches 523 

Lemon, The 457 

compared with Sicilian 459 

curing 459 

planting and pruning 458 

propagation 458 

pruning 458 

situations and soils for 457 

V.\RiETiEs: Introduced. 

Asiatic 460 

Genoa 460 

Lisbon 459 

Sicily 459 

Villa Franca 459 

V.\RiETiEs: Calif ornian. 

.A.gnes . . 460 

Eureka 460 

Garcelon's Knobby 460 

Olivia 460 

Lemon berry 57 

Lime, The 460 

propagation 460 

why little grown 460 

Varieties : Introdttced. 

ISIe.vican 460 

Imperial 46c 

Lime, uses of 95, 192 

Loquat, The 466 

Manure, care of 194 

Manuring at planting .. 143 

Manzanita berries, 56 

Map of orchard and vineyard 144 

Marls 193 

Matting drying on 516 

Mealy bugs 543 

Medlar, The 466 

Melon Shrub 469 

Melon Tree 469 

Melon growing 561 

Mission fruits 61 

Moisture lost by weed growth 170 

retained by cultivation 169 

Morning glory killng 184 

Mulberry, The 482 

varieties of 483 

Mulching after planting 145 

instead of cultivation 185 

Nectarine 3^3 

compared with peach 313 



Page. 

dried 314, 316, 524 

future of 316 

Varieties : Introduced. 

Boston 315 

Downton 315 

Early Newington 315 

Elruge 315 

Hardwicke 315 

Lord Napier 314 

New White 315 

Pitmaston 314 

Red Roman 315 

Stanwick 315 

Violette Hative . 314 

Varieties: Califomian. 

Dodds 315 

Smith's Seedling 315 

Vosemite 315 

Nursery 94 

growing seedlings 97, 98, 99 

laying out and planting 102 

pruning in 113 

selection of site for 96 

soil, preparation of .'. 95 

soil, proper for, 94 

trees, digging 138 

trees, disinfecting 138 

trees, selecting 137 

when to plant in 102 

Nuts grow ng in Cal 491 

growing from seed 100 

Oaks, native 82 

Old trees, renewing 165 

Olives 414 

at old missions 64 

budding 419 

climate for 415 

from cuttings 416 

from seed 416 

fruit gathering 427 

grafting 423 

literature of 415 

oil making -. 427 

pruning 424 

picking 430 

small cuttings 418 

soils for 416 

truncheons 419 

Varieties: Introduced. 

A tro-ruhcns 435 

Atro- vialacea 437 

Cayonne 436 

Columella 435 

Lucques 437 

Macrocarpa 437 

Manzanillo 433 

Mission 43' 

OHviere 436 

Pendulina 435 

Pendoulier 433 

Picholine 432 

Pigale 437 

Redding Picholine 432 

Rouget 436 

Rubra 434 

Saillern 435 

Uvaria 434 

Verdale 436 

Orchard land, preparation of. 119 

laying out in squares 120 

alternating squares 121 

double squares 121 

measure and sight 123 

measuring wire 124 

quincunx planting 125 



572 



Index. 



Page. 

time for planting 140 

Orange 438 

budding 443 

diseases 450 

distances for 449 

from cuttings 441 

from layers 441 

from seed 441 

literature of 439 

planting in orchard 445, 447 

product . . 438 

pruning 449 

seedlings, care of 442 

situation and soils for 439 

transplanting 446 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Asher's Best 453 

Australian Navel 452 

Azorean St. Michael 454 

Bahia 451 

Duroi 454 

Kincquat 456 

King 454 

Large St, Michael 454 

Maltese Blood 452 

Mediterranean Sweet 453 

Paper-rind St. Michael 453 

R'? ■•■ .•• 453 

Rtverstde Aavel 451 

Satsuma 456 

Small St. Michael 454 

Tangerine 456 

Valencia Late 452 

Washington Navel 451 

Varieties; Cali/ornian. 

Baldwin's Favorite 455 

Cooper's Seedling 455 

Kercheval's Queen 455 

Konah 455 

Mayberrj' s Premier 455 

Wilson's Best 455 

Wolfskin's Best ^54 

Paper, drying on : .516 

Peach 285 

approved lists of 310 

'^0'"ff • 547.548 

curl leaf . . 29 S 

diseases 296 

distance in planting 289 

dormant buds 290 

dO"i"g 523 

early bearing 286 

grafting 295 

localities for 286 

longevity of 285 

mildew 299 

moth 547 

pitting clings 523 

pruning 291 

soils for 287 

stocks for 289 

tables of varieties 311,372 

thinning 295 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Alexander 301 

Amelia 302 

Amsden 301 

Baker's Early 302 

Bergen's Yellow 303 

Bilyeu's Late October 309 

Brandy wine 307 

Chinese Cling 304 

Crawford's Early 303 

Crawford's Late 304 

Crimson Beauty 308 



Page. 

Early Anne 302 

Early Beatrice 302 

Early Rivers 32 

Early Tillotson ... 302 

Foster 303 

Carey's Hold-on 309 

George Fourth 303 

Gov. Garland 302 

Grosse Mignon 302 

Hale's Early 302 

Hardy White Tuscany 309 

Hardy Yellow Tuscanj' 309 

Heath ... 308 

Henrietta 309 

Hyslop 308 

La Grange 308 

Large Early York 3^2 

Large White Cling 304 

Late Yellow Alberge . . 309 

Lemon Clingstone 305 

Levy's Late 306 

Lord Palmerston 304 

Mary's Choice 303 

Morris' White 304 

Mrs. Brett 309 

Old Mi.xon Cling 304 

Old Mi.xon Free 304 

Orange Clingstone 305 

Picquet's Late 308 

President 308 

Red Cheek Melocoton 303 

Red Rareripe 302 

Reeve's Favorite 304 

Richmond 303 

Rhigold MaiHinoth 308 

Royal George 303 

Salway 308 

Smock Free 308 

Snow 303 

Strawberry 302 

Steadlj' 308 

Stump the World 304 

Susquehanna 306 

Tuskena 303 

Wager 304 

Ward's Late 307 

Waterloo 302 

Wheatland 304 

Wil ^ins Cling 308 

Yellow Cobbler 309 

Yellow St. John 302 

Varieties: Cali/ornian. 

Albright's Cling 309 

Baxter's Cling 305 

Boquier 308 

Briggs' Red ]\Iay 301 

Bucks Prolific 309 

Buck's Seedling 309 

California 307 

Day's White Free 304 

Day's Yellow Cling 304 

Day's Yellow Free 303 

December 309 

Decker 309 

Edtvard s Cling 307 

Florin 305 

Gates Cling 303 

General Bidwell 307 

George's Late Cling 308 

General Grant 307 

Golden Cling (Hatch) 305 

Grover Cleveland 306 

Honest Abe 304 

Jones' Seedling 307 

Lemon Free 305 

Lovell 306 



Index. 



573 



Page. 

Lyon's Cling 309 

McCowan's Cling 306 

Mclntyre's Late Free 306 

Mother Porter 306 

Muir 305 

Mc Devil's Cling 309 

McKevitt's Cling 307 

Newhall 304 

Nichols' Orange Cling 305 

Parson's Early 302 

Peck's Orange Cling 305 

Persian's Cling 308 

Phillips Cling 308 

Rosenberg Cling 306 

Roseville Cling 306 

Runyons Orange Cling 305 

Seller's Golden Cling 305 

Shinn's Rareripe 304 

Stilson 305 

Thissell's Free 304 

Ulatis 302 

Peanut growing 498 

Pear 317 

Bartlett, why popular 318 

characteristics in California 317 

diseases 323 

distances for the 321 

drying 523 

for alkali soil 320 

in Southern California 333 

largest on record 317 

localities for 318 

on quince stock 320 

propagation of 320 

pruning 321 

seedlings, growing 98 

slug ." 533 

soils for 319 

storing and ripening 323 

tables of varieties 334 

thinning 312 

Varieties: Intyodiiccd. 

Anne Ogereau 333 

Augustus Dana 333 

Baron de Mello 333 

Bartlett 325 

Beurre Assomption 325 

Beurre Bosc 326 

Beurre Clairgeau 327 

Beurre d' Anjou • 327 

Beurre Diel 326 

Beurre Gifford 324 

Beurre hardy 325 

Beurre gris d'hiver 327 

Beurre superfin 333 

Bloodgood 324 

Clapp's Favorite 324 

Conseiller de la Cour 333 

Dana's Hovey 327 

Dearborn's Seedling 325 

Dix 327 

De Tonpres 325 

Doyenne Boussock 326 

Doyenne d'Alencon 327 

Doyenne d'Ete 325 

Doyenne du Cornice 327 

Doyenne Robin 333 

Dr. Reader 333 

Duchess d' Angouleme 326 

Duchesse precoce 333 

Duhamel de Monceau 333 

Easter Beurre 328 

Flemish Beauty 325 

Fondante de Noel ... 333 

Forelle 333 

Glout Morceau 327 



Page. 

Harvest 325 

Howell 325 

Idaho. 332 

Jalousie Fontenay 333 

Jaminette 333 

Jones Seedling 333 

Lawrence 327 

Leconte 328 

Louise Bonne de Jersey 326 

Louis Vilmorin 333 

Madeline 325 

Marie Louise d'Ucles 333 

Md. Lariol de Barny 333 

Onondaga 3 26 

Ott 333 

Paradise d'Autumne 333 

Pitmaston Duchesse 333 

Pound 328 

Seckel 325 

Sheldon 327 

Souvenir du Congres 325 

Vicar of Wakefield 327 

White Doyenne 326 

Winter Nelis 327 

Varieties: Californian. 

Block's Acme 331 

Block's Superb 331 

B.S.Fo.x 329 

Col . Wilder 330 

Kennedy 332 

Napa Seedling 332 

P. Barrj' 3.9 

Santa Ana 332 

Pecan, The 499 

Persimmon, Japanese. .... 467 

Persimmon, Virginian 466 

Phosphates 189 

Pine-nuts 59 

Pistachio, The 500 

Planting, conditions favoring 141 

cutting back after 146 

depth of 144 

operation of 141 

preparing land for ^— ii9) ^33 

speed in i44 

time for 140 

use of manure 143 

use of water in I43 

Plowing, devices for 177 

orchard and vineyard 174 

on hillside 17S 

to break hard-pan 17S 

without ilead furrows 120 

Plow, laying off with 122 

Plums and Prunes 336 

California false 5' 

device for gathering 524 

drying 5^4 

from th root 34° 

in Southern California 337 

localities for 33^ 

myrabolan 33^ 

planting .34° 

pruning the 34' 

stocks and soils 337 

table of varieties 35^ 

wild 17, 50 

Varieties: introduced. 

Bavay's Green Gage 347 

Botan 351 

Bradshaw 344 

Bulgarian 34° 

Burbank 35' 

Burgundy 34° 

Caddo Chief 343 

Chabot 351 



574 



Index. 



Page. 

Cherry 343 

Columbia 345 

Coe's Golden Drop 349 

Coe's Late Red 349 

Damson 346 

Duane's Purple 345 

Early (Jolden Drop 343 

Fellenberg . . 349 

General Hand 346 

German prune 346 

Green Gage 345 

Hungarian pru ne 346 

, Ickworth Imperatrice 349 

Imperial gage 346 

Imperial Ottoman 344 

Jefferson 345 

Kelsey Japan 346 

Lot d'Ente 347 

Lombard 345 

McLaughlin 345 

Mont Barbat d'Ente 347 

Peach 344 

Prince Engelbert 345 

Prince of Wales 345 

Prune d'Agen 348 

Prunus simoni 344 

Purple Favorite 345 

Puymirol d'Ente 347 

Quackenbos 346 

Red Diaper 345 

Red Magnum Bonum 345 

Robe de Sergent 348 

Royale Hative 344 

Satsuma 351 

St. Catharine 347 

St. Martin's Quetsche 349 

Victoria 346 

Washington 345 

Wild Goose 344 

Yellow Egg 345 

Varieties; Pacific Coast. 

Burbank's Seedlings 351 

Champion prune 351 

Clyman 349 

Golden prune 351 

Glaister 349 

Silva's Koning Claudie 349 

Silver prune 349 

Tragedy prune 349 

Pomegranate, The 4-8 

Pomelo 461 

Potash 190 

Prickly Pear 469 

Prune— (see plum) 336 

Prunes, drj-ing 524 

gathering 524 

Pruning I47 

California style 148, 150, i'52 

effects of 163 

influenced by location 149, 159, 161 

low, advantages of 149 

saws, California 167 

summer 164 

tools 166 

to renew old trees 165 

vase form, origin of 150 

vase form, securing 155 

with central stem 161 

wounds, covering 168 

Puddle for roots 143 

Pulverizers, home-made. . . 183 

Lubins 181 

Prunings as manure 196 

Quince 353 

demand for 353 



Page. 

orchard in Sonoma. . . 353 

propagation 354 

pruning 354 

soils for 354 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Angers 354 

Apple.; 354 

Champion 355 

Chinese... 355 

Meech's Prolific 355 

Orange 354 

Portugal 354 

Varieties: Californian. 

West's Mammoth 355 

Quincunx planting. 125 

Rabbit fences 553 

Rabbits, destroying 552 

poisons for 553 

smears for 553 

Rainfall, records of ■ 12 

Raisin . making 526, 529 

sorting and packing 528 

Raspberry, The 483 

Ba.xter 485 

black-caps 485 

culture of 484 

Varieties, popular 485 

wild 53 

Red Spider 536 

Riverside raisin curing 527 

Russian introduction of fruits 67 

Scale Insects 537 

black 541 

brown apricot 542 

cottony cushion 543 

cot tony grape 543 

pear 539 

oleander 540 

orange, red 541 

orange, soft 542 

oyster shell 539 

rose and berry 540 

San Jose 538 

remedies for 544, 545 

Salmon berry 53 

Sapota, White 470 

Sawfly larvse 534 

Scions, care of 108, 370 

selection of 109 

Seed, growing trees from 97 

Seedlings, imported 100 

Shaddock 461 

Sheep manure 195 

Shovels, laying off with 123 

Single-trees, orchard 1 79 

Small fruits 472 

Soils for fruits 28 

adobe 32, 35, 41 

alkali 47 

bed-rock or hard-pan 33, 133 

granitic 38 

loams 32, 41 

mesa 44 

plains 37 

red 38, 40 

river bottom 35, 38 

sand-hill ridge 37 

sedimentary or silty 34, 40 

wash or talus 45 

Spring growth, retarding T7 

Squirrels, destroying 554 

St. John's bread 471 

Strawberrj' 485 

care of 489 



Index. 



575 



Page. 

continuous bearing 485 

irrigating 487 

laying out for 487 

planting 488 

situations and soils 486 

varieties, popular 490 

wild 54 

Sulphuring fruit 518 

Sunburn 15, 16 

protection from 145 

Sunlight, value of direct 23 

Sunshine, records of 24 

Temperature, lowest 21 

Temperature, records of 12 

Ten acre orchard, plan for 129 

Tent caterpillar 532 

Topography, influence of 13 

Trays, drying 515 

Trees, activity, and rest of 18, 140 

heeling in 139 

selecting 1 37 

Tree-setteis 135^ 136 

Triangle for laying out 131 

Tuila, The 460 



Page. 
Twig-borers 547 

Vine — see grape. 

Walnut, black 58, 501 

Walnut, English ' 500 

blossoms of 504 

culture and soils 501 

gathering and drying 505 

propagation and planting 502 

pruHiiig 503 

Varieties — 

Common or Los Angeles =;o5 

French varieties ' 506 

Japanese 508 

Persian ^07 

Soft Shell '.'.'.'.'.'.'. '.'.'.'.' 506 

Wild fruits of California ^q 

Windbreaks • . f-y 

..^y^^^fo>^ 558, 559 

vVnie grapes ,g. 

drying ."359! 529 

Winery- refu.se as manure 196 

Winter-killing, unknown 21 

W'ire, measuring 124 

Woolly aphis c,- 



ANNOUNCKMKNTS 



BY 



CALIFORNIA NURSERYMEN, 



DEALERS IN 



Fruit Growers' Implements and Supplies, ete. 



LUTHER BURBANK, 

-^^ ORiGIXATOR OF •<■-— 



Address, BURBANK'S EXPERIMENTAL GROUNDS, 

Samta. liosa, . - . California.. 

TREES AND CUTTINGS FOR SALE. 

White Adriatic, Genuine Smyrna, and Table Varieties. 

]\J:. DEIVIOIi^li:, - - Fi-esno, Oal. 

C. . M. . SILVA . &c . SON. 

ORIGINATORS OF THE 

^ I^e^vcastle Early ^pricot/fe 



Earliest, Best, and Most Profitable "Cot" in Cultivation. 

General Nurserymen, - Lincoln, California. 

Pajaro Valley [lupsemes, 

A large and complete stock of all kinds of fruit trees — Apples, Pears, 
Peaches, Cherries, Plums, Prunes, Apricots, Nectarines, etc — grown every 
year, together with Nut Trees, Evergreen, Ornamental, and Shade Trees. 
Small fruits of all kinds. Currants, Gooseberries, Blackberries, Raspber- 
ries, and Strawberries, grown on the best of land without irrigation. 

Send, for IDescripti^ye Catalog-iie to 

JAMES WATERS, 

^y^atson-yille, - - California.. 

GrILL'S Nur^SEI^IES. 

ROSES AND CAMELLIAS A SPECIALTY. 

. ♦• ALSO •♦ ♦ 
A Large and Complete Stock of Fruit, Shade, and Ornamental Trees and 

Shrubs. 
Ci^nm and Cypress Seedlings in Boxes. 

E. GILL, Nurseryman, 

28tli Stre3t, D3t. Mill iiid Adeline, near San Patilo Avenue. 
Oa.l2:larLd., - - - Ca-lifornia. 



MRS. M. N. rSASEE, Proprietor. FEED. 0. MILES, Manager. 

Alolr^gi Nurseries. 

Oldest Citrus Ntirsery in Korthem California. 

FEUE.'X'IX, P'I..?^CEI2- COXJIXX-l", C-S.I.. 

Specialty of Orange and Lemon Trees of Leading Varieties, Budded on 
Taiiiti Stock Grown at Penryn. 

Ornameutal Trees, Plants, and Palms in Variety. 
A GENERAL LINE OF STONE AND DECIDUOUS FRUIT TREES. 

anta p^osa Rupsetnes. 

R, ¥, BELL, SUCCESSOR TO L. BDRBANK, 

Large Stock of all the Best Varieties of Fruit, Shade, and Ornamental Trees, 
Vines, and Flowers. 

— (^ SPECIAl.TIES.'4f^- 

Mission, True Italian Picholine, Columella, Nevadillo, and Manzanillo 

Olives, White Adriatic and Smyrna Figs, Mulberries, Japan 

Chestnuts, and best Walnuts. 

lARREN * iiLL * iURSERY, 

Nevada City, Cal. 

SPECIA I.TIES.'—yats of all hinds, Prunes anrl G^rapes. 

The largest aud finest collection of Walnut and Grape varieties to be found in the 
United States, the most of them introduced into California during the last twenty years by 
Felix Gillet. 21 varieties of Walnuts, S varieties of Marrou Chestnuts, 5 varieties of Al- 
monds, 10 varieties of Filberts. 251 varieties of Grapes from all parts of the world, some 
the earliest ones to be found in California. Send for Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue 
and Price List. 

Treatise on " Grafting the Walnut," illustrated with S cuts after nature, with Illus- 
trated Catalogue, 25 cents. 

Felix Gillet, Nevada City, Cal. 

I. H. THOMAS. J. O. THOMAS. 

-^THOMAS & SON,.i^— 

Oi^ehai^dists and flarserymen, 

VISALIA, TULARE COUNTY, CAL. 

' ■^' ^ ♦ General Stoclc of the Best Varieties of Stone Fruits, -t-^-*^ — • 

Apricots, Peaches, Plums, Nectarines selected for drying qualities. Specialties. — 

Smith's SEEDLrNC, (by W. W. Smith, of Vacaville), a large, 'yellow freestone, ripening two 
weeks ahead of Foster; valuable for Eastern shipment. The Prunus Simoni, the com- 
ing early shipping plum, arge, handsome, delicious, ripens June 15 to 20, and will stand 
12 days' shipment, ripening up well en route. 

Wj-iObESALEDEAbEF^S IN GF(EE]^J ANO DRIED fRUITS- 



KS'rXBi^isiiBiD''i87'S.''«'^'3^ 



fl f\pf\ • l/gCCEY ♦ |\f dl^8El^lE8. 



]B^r-uLit Xrees, G-rape "y^ines, 

ORNAMENTAL AND SHADE TREES, SMALL FRUITS, ETC. 
All Stock Unlrrigated and Free from Disease. 



For Further Particulars Address the Proprietor, 



Leonard Coates, 

Napa, - - California. 

JAMES T. BOGUE, 

— -t^i frojtaffcitor of atid Dealei- iti i4*-' — 

Cifsriu^ i Deciduous Fiiuil! ;4 Shade Ti^ee^. 

Marysville, California. 

(Nursery Three Miles West of Tuba City.) 

Always on hand and for sale, a large stock of Genuine Bartlett Pear, Apple, 
Plum, Cherry, Peach, Apricot, Ouince, Nectarine, and Small Fruit 
and Ornamental Trees. Also Orange, Lemon, Lime, Ja- 
panese Persimmon, Olive, Nut Trees, 
Grape Vines, etc. 

A SPECIALTY OF 

-^Imported Fruit Tree Seedlings^ 

For Grafting and Budding. 



W. R. STRONG & CO., 

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, 

[Established i^^52], 

Wholesale Pjmt f reduce dealers 

ALSO PROPRIETORS OF 

In which are grown and kept a complete assortment of everything in the Nursery line. 
PRINCIPAL OFFICE AND SALES YARD, SACRAMENTO. 

Branch Nurseries at Acampo, San Joaquin Co.; Penryn, Placer Co., Cal. and South 
Lake Weir, Florida. At the latter place we have grown to order and ship out every season 
the very best varieties of oranges peculiar to California and Florida. Most of these trees 
are grown on the Florida sour stock, and are consequently much hardier than if on the 
sweet stock. Remarkable success has been had in transplanting these trees. On an 
average, for the past three years, not more than one per cent, has failed to grow. 

We defy competition in prices and quality of trees. 

We do a Large Wholesale and Retail Seed Business. 

SS" Send for Descriptive Catalogue and Prices. "^Eft 




MANUFACTURERS & DEALERS IN 

ItrifiedIronStoheSewer&WaterPipe 



I TERRA&TTAtaNEYPiPE &TOPSj 



Architeetdral Terra ^OTTA. 

GARDEN VASES,FLOWER POTS.FIRE BRICKSXTILE. 
FIRE CLAXCHEMICAU MANUFACTURER'S WARES. 

FAfiMER'SDRWNTlLE.ETCETC. 

SAN FRANCISCO, OFFICE, | MANUFACTORY 
I358&I360 MARKET ST. iLINCOLN,PLACER CO.CAL 

CATALOGUE FREE. .<ipnfL 



TREES AND PLANTS 

CALIFORNIA NURSERY CO, 

NILES, ALAMEDA COUNTY, CAL. 



Lafgest Stock on tlie Pacific Coast 



Fruit Trees, Olives, Oranges and Lemons, Nut Trees, Wine and 

Table Grapes, Berry Plants, Shade Trees, Evergreens, 

Shrubs, Roses, Etc., Etc. 

FOR COMPLETE LIST. SEND FOR OXTR NEW CATALOGUE. 

JOHN ROCK, Manager. CALIFORNIA NURSERY CO. 

NILES, ALAMEDA CO., CAL. 

JOHN ROCK. A. T. HATCH, 

San Jose. Suisun. 

RIO BONITO NURSERY, 

BIGGS, BUTTE CO., CAL. 

GENERAL STOCK OF THE 

MOST DESIRABLE FRUITS 

FOR 

CANNING, LRYING AND SHIPPING. 

SPECIALTIES. 

Hatch's Almonds: I X E. Nonpareil, Ne plus Ultra, II Supremo, 
La Prima. 



New Varieties of choice peaches. Early apricots. Tragedy 
prunes. 

The celebrated GOLDEN CLING, the best yellow cling peach 
for canning. 

BIGGS, Butte Co., Cal. 



ission Olive Trees, 

Grown from Hardwood Cuttings, in Open Ground. 



Bulletin Smyrna Figs, 

Kelsey Japan Plums, 

I. X. L. Almonds, 

Bartlett and Winter Nelis Pears, 
Orange Cling Peaches, 

Cuthbert Raspberries, 

Berkeley Gooseberries, 

AND A COMPLETE ASSORTMENT OF 

itiade and Qrnamental IJIrees, 

DRY LAND GRASSES, 

Espersette and Bermuda Grass Seeds. 



Vegetable, Flower and Tree Seeds, 

Holland and Japanese Flowering Bulbs. 



CJVTJLLOGrXJKS FREE. 

TRUMBULL & BEEBE, 

NURSERYMEN AND SEEDSMEN, 
419-421 SANSOME ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



^aneho Chico 



^$im uiirDani ann iirnnarnD ^st 



Vuisery ■ and - Orcnanls. 



.^. ,-M<. -**■;<- ■ ,f^ 

FOR PLANTING 1889 AND 1890, 

600.000 Fruit Trees 

OF LEADING AND BEST VARIETIES, 

Warranted Free from Scale or any Other 
Insect Pest. 

STOCK FIRST-CLASS AND GUARANTEED TRUE TO NAME. 

The Large Increase in the Area of my Nursery will Enable me 
to Fill all Orders. 



A FULL ASSORTMENT OF 



Ornamental and Green-House Stock 

ALWAYS OX HAND. 

200,000 Well -Rooted Grape Vines. 

SEND FOR CATALOGUE AND PRICE LIST. 

JOHN BIDWELL, 

Rancho Chico Nursery, Chico, Cal. 



Modern Machinery 

FOR THE 

BaM, SairiJ and Si^chai^d. 



Harvesting Machinery, Mowers, Reapers, and Self-Binders, 
Sulky Self- Dump Rakes. 



P^eed Ivlills, l^B^y- Critters, 

^rea^d Horse Fo^^Arers, 

Steam ErLgiries and Boilers. 



Dairy Apparatus and Supplies, 
Cream Separators, 

Churns and Butter Workers, 

Butter and Cheese Machinery, 

Cheese Vats, Presses, and Tools. 



Orchard and Vineyard Single-trees (see Illustration, 

Page 179, this Book), Fruit and Raisin 

Dryers, Cider and Wine Presses. 



A very Large Assortment of the most Important Mechanical 
Improvements of the Age. 

S:EJ^D for IT^IjirSTMATEli AXlt VFfiClilPTiyi: CATALOGIFS. 

G.G.WICKSON&CO., 

3 and 5 Front Street, - - San Francisco. 



To the Farmers and Fr uit Growe rs of the Pacific Coast: 

GENTLEMEN :— We call your attention to our New and Improved 
Line of Fruit Pitting Spoons and Paring Knives, as represented in the 
cuts below. We have expended much time and experience in getting up 
these goods, and believe we have a line that will meet the requirements 
of Farmers and Fruit Growers. They are made of the best quality of 
Steel and fully warranted. 



iJ'i^i.xjii" r»iTTii\rc3r si=»oo]Nrs, 




NO. 3, STEEL BLADE. POLISHED HANDLE PER DOZEN, $2 50 



NO- 4, STEEL BLADE, POLISHED HANDLE - PER DOZEN. S3 00 

SftN JOSE. 




SAN JOSE. FREE-STONE PEACH PITTING KNIVES, BLADE 3-INCH, PER DOZEN, S6 00 

LIGHTNING. 




LIGHTNING. CLING-STONE PEACH PITTING KNIVES, BLADE 3-INCH, PER DOZEN. S7 50 




CAST STEEL BLADJ. 



CAST STEEL BLADE, 3. -INCH 

NO. 15. 



PER DOZEN, $2 00 



-PER DOZEN, S2 00 



?IO. 15, COCOA HANDLE CAST STEEL BL.'^^. 



PER DOZEN, SI 50 



BAKER & HAMILTON, San Francisco and Sacramento. 



^^ PACIFIC ^^ 

,aw fRanufacturing gompany 



17 and 19 Fremont Street, 



San Francisco. 




d A ~\"\7'C1 ^''•' Jii'EJtY nr.sciiii'TntN ox iiAy^D and made 

kD^I:^ VV ic^ v'o ojtiiER 

AGENTS FOR C. B. PAUL'S FILES. 

(herwood * Bovelty * gteel ^^ Harness. 



OVER 15,000 SETS 



Plowing a pleasure and reduced to 
correct scientific principles. 



A'OM i\ I si:. 

Farmers are emancipated from slaviiiR 
and drudjjing toil. 

FOR THR »<'KA I»KR it is so han- 
dy. No tuj^s or whiffletrees to bother 
team or driver. 

FOR IiO<ji<iil\'(>; it has no equal. 
FOR HA1'I.I\4; STOXe OR 

MAXURE on the farm it is per- 
fection. 

Sent on trial. If nut satisfactory we refund the money and pay all freight. 

Sriit <\ O. T>. or oil rcrri/>t of,$17..'>0. 





THE NEW BRADLEY VINEYARD PLOW, 



Truman, Hooker & Co., 



Kspecially a''apted for the cultivation of 
vineyards and orchards. Best vineyard plow 
manufactured. P'ormer price, $15. Hcdurvd 
to .$7.-'>0, with extra share. Cash with order. 

Buggies. Cait and Wagons in great variety. 

.\CRICri.TrRAL IMPLEMENTS 

Ok Every Description. 

Acicfiess, 



San Francisco. 




STAR SPRAY PUMP. 



g TAR 5 1^ RAY p UMP. 

With Ia\o IIosk and Hamboo Ex- 

Tl^NSIONS, RaUKKL and NOZ- 
ZI 1 S. All COMl'LKTE IN 
Ul'EBATION. 

1 lie above cut represents our Oouble- 
\ tliiR Stiir Sprsiy Pump arranged for 
< 01 two sprays or liose. This pump 
1-^ sp( ( lally adapted for sprayirij^ lic,- 
ui Is >i poisons of any kind upon trees 
sliHiblii [\ , orange trees, vines, etc., 
ill ( ti I hv bugs, worms, insects, etc 
I 111 \ il\is are I'onslructed entirely of 
I I iss anil evi'ii the |)ackliig is made of 
islii slos which resists acidsor hot mlx- 
luiisof all kinds, and is c^apable of do- 
Hu II Umti more service than any other 
pumps m the market, as it is of greater 
I ip I 11 \ and, being double-acting in 
piiri i| I throwsa coiitinuousand pow- 
i ifiil stu am. 

1 Ik iiK d and usefulness of a pump of 
this kind as an aid to the orchardist and 
fruit glower, is so well known as to 
hardly need any eneomiums from 
us, although we" could ap|iend hun- 
dreds of letters from private parties, as well as prominent members of State .Xgncultural So- 
cieties, which show this to be the only reliable and effective mariner of treating these pests. 
We make these pumps so thev will til on llie head of an oriliiiarN- harrell, capable of holiling 
from :i(i to .Mi gallons of llic> liquid to be used, according to tlie piu'tiose intended. With one of 
the .star S|)raying I'lunps attached, this Jiurrel may lie placed on a wagon or stone boat, anil a 
spray directed from eiiheroneor both sides, as miiy be required, thus saving nearly one-Ualf 
of the labor iisuallv (•(Hisiimed in doing the same work. 

ONtiKKTHN LHjlII) TREE PROTECTOR gliouid be used for spraying to kill the Red 
Scale, Black Scale, White Cushion Cottony .Scale, San Jose Scale, or any other insect. 

Send for Special Circulars and Prices. 



W^OODIN & LITTLE, 

509 and 511 MARKET ST., San Francisco, Cal. 

Manufacturers of all kinds of 

Cistern, Well, and Force Pumps. 

Adapted for eveiy kind of requirement for botli 
hand and power use. Railroad Pumps. Steam- 
boat Pumps Mining Pumps, Windmill Pumps, 
Rotary Pumps, Fire Engines, Hydraulic 
Rams, Hose, Garden Tools, and 
Pump Materials. 

A SrECIALTY. 

Send for Our No. 16 Catalogue. 







r^ 






lltij sfKAVI.NC. 



WM. WAINWRICHT, 

Manufacturer and Dealer in 

Spray Pumps, Spray Nozzles, Gar- 
den Sprinklers. 

Kotiry and Stationery Lawn Irrigators, Hoso, etc. 
All kinds of spraying apparatus made 
to order. These nozzles are in use at 
Oolden Gate Park, and the cemeteries of 
San Francisco, Oakland, Alameda, and 
other parts of the State. They are ad- 
justable from a vapor to a solid stream. 
I or rapid watering and quick changes 
tliere is nothing like them. S<-ii>l /<»*• 
III list tutiil Chiiiliir. 

Factory. I05 BE ALE ST.. 

SAN FRANCISCO 



Ifftl Miiig CompoiiijJ k 

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 

MANUFACTURERS AND PROPRIETORS OF 

Ongerth's Liquid Tree Protector, 

P^OR. SFR.JLYIIMO TREKS. 

Ongerth's Grafting Compound. 
Ongerth's Insecticide Powder, No. 1, 

For General Use as a Disinfectant and Insecticide in Chicken Houses 
Stables, Flower Gardens, etc. 

Ongerth's Insecticide Powder, No. 2, 

For the Extermination of the "Mysterious Vine Disease," also Mildew 
and Blight on Grape Vines and Plants. 

Ongerth's Vulnerine, 

The Specific for Poison Oak, Skin Diseases, Sore Feet, Burns and Scalds, 

Cuts, Bruises, etc. 

Ongerth's Microbicide, 

A Sure, Safe, and Speedy Cure for Cuts and Bruises on Horses, 
Dogs, and Cattle, 

Sl^-iii Diseases of every Deseviption, such as Mange, SeratcJies, Cracked Heels, 

and Thrush. 

The Bites and Stings of Venomous Insects, Bots, Ticks, etc.; vSetfasts, 
Saddle and Collar Galls, Mange and Canker of the Ear in Dogs, 
Burns, Scalds, Sores, Ulcers and Abrasions of every nat- 
ure on all Animals; also a certain remedy- for the 
treatment of Chicken Diphtheria, Roup, 
and Seal}- Legs in Poultry. 



mportant to fruit Srowers. 

Protect Your Trees from Sunburn, Borers, Rabbits, etc., 
by Using 

Hays' Tree Stem Envelopes. 

It is the Best Tree Protector in use, and is now 

Being used Extensively as a Preventive of 

Canker Worm in Old Trees. 

Waterproof and Adjustable, Saves T.me, Trouble, and Expense; Costs 
from One to Two Cents per Tree; Only for Young Trees. 

Special Sizes Made to Order. Send for Samples. 

orders promptly filled by the 

Pgicific l^eiper (g., 

414 AND 416 SANSOME ST., SA^J FRAJSieiSCO. 





LAKE & CO., 

Importers and Wholesale Dealers in 

rusHes, grooms, ^^oodenware, @ic. 
No. 411 Sacramento St., 



Between Battery and Sansome, 



SAW FRAXCISCO. 



BRUSHES MADE TO ORDER FOR CLEANSIN& FRUIT TREES. 



— A4 



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FRUIT TREE SPRAYERS. 

To those who want a Spray Pump that anv half-ordinary hired man can use to per- 
fect satisfaction, we can say that the CLIMAX SPRAY PUMPS are the most Dura- 
ble AND BEST Constructed Pumps on the market. Latest and best spray tips, endorsed 
over all others by such practical growers and shippers as A. T. Hatch, J. H. Flickinger, 
San Jose, Ira Avery. W. N. Morrison, C. A. Culver, Capt. Harriman, R. J. Reynolds, t' 
Croflon, Woodbury Oil Co., G. L. Threlkel, Jas. Hutchins >n. Trumbull & Beebe", and hun- 
dreds of others. Cheapest place to buy all kinds of hose in the city. 

CALIFOKNIA FIEE APPARATUS AND SPKAT PUMP MF'O CO., 

18 California Street, - - - - . San Francisco, Cal. 




INVENTORS 

Should consult DEWEY & CO., American and Foreign Patent 
Solicitors, for obtaining Patents and Caveats. Established in 
iS6o. 

Their long experience as journalists and large practice as Pa- 
tent Attorneys enable them to offer Pacific Coast inventors far 
better service than they can obtain elsewhere. 

Send for free circulars of information. Office of the 

MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PEESS and PACIFIC EUEAL PEESS, 
Elevator, 12 Front St. No. 220 Market Street, San Francisco 



GRANGERS' BANK 

OF CALIFORNIA, 
Incorporated April, 1S-4. 



General Banking. 

Deposits Received, 
Gold and Silver. 




\ Bills of Exchange 

Bought and Sold. 



Loans on Wheat and 

Country Produce 

a Specialty. 



Authorized Capital !4m.00<K0OO 

Capital Paid Ip and Resserve Fund SOO.OOO 

Dividends Paid to Stockholders S7S,G'iO 

OFFICERS. 

A. D. LOGAN President. 

I. C. STEELE Vice-President. 

ALBERT MONTPELLIER Cashier and Manager. 

FRANK MCMULLEN Secretary. 

July I, 1SS9. 



Largest General Retail House on the 
Pacific Coast. 

Weinstock, Lubin & Co., 

400, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 

K Street, Sacramento. 
-e®-MAIL ORDERS A SPECIALTY.-=Sa 

Send for Large Illustrated Catalogue and 
Samples Free to any address. 



^he gacific gural gress. 



JESTJlBZISSJSI} 1S70. 



The Leading Agricultural Home Newspaper and Standard Authority on ail 
Branches of California Agriculture. 



It is the chief medium for the dissemination of information concerning fruit growing 
in California. 

It has the fullest and most accurate Reports of Horticultural Meetings, and is 
the best record of the Experience of Individual Fruit Growers in all parts of the 
State. 

Its market reports are prepared with care and the greatest reliability possible for the 
benefit of the producer. 

It is a farm and home journal of the highest class, pure in tone and well informed on 
all matters of industrial interest. It is handsomely printed and illustrated. It is a 
twenty-page weekly, and is furni.shed, postage paid, for $3.00 per year in advance. 

A Rare Chance to Learn AlDOUt California. 

Readers who wish to know more about the genial sunset land of the Pacific Slope, its 
rare products and wonderful resources and climate, will do well to send fifty cents for a 
map and twelve sample copies (worth $1.25) of the (illustrated) Pacific Rural Press, 
the largest and best agricultural weekly in the West, and one of the freshest and most 
original home farm papers in the world. Five copies, 25 cents. 
Address, 

DEWEY <St CO., Publishetrs, 

NO 220 MAEKET STREET, 

SAN FRANCISCO. 

DEWEY ENGRAVING CO., 
PHOTO AND WOOD ENGRAVING, ZINCOGRAPHING, ETC. 

By the Best and Cheapest Methods. 

OUR NEW PHOTO-FACSIMILE PLATES, 

DIRECT FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, for Fine Newspaper, and Fine Book and 

Job Printing, 

Stand next to steel-plate engravings in fineness and pprfection. They are produced quicker 

and cheiiper than any other good engravings, through the greatest invention 

yet made in Photo-engraving. 

PHOTO-ELECTROTYPES, STEREOPTICON VIEWS, 

PHOTO-ZINCOGRAPHS, COUNTERFEIT SIGNATURES ENLARGED, 

W.AX PROCESS ELECTROTYPES, LEGAL DOCUMENTS REPRODUCED, 

LITHOGRAPHERS' TRANSFERS. 

Also Photographing on Wood and other Special Photo Work 

Promptly and reliably done by the most successful and best-approved processes. Designs, 
drawings or pbologr;iphs made to order. Engravings of buildings, portraits, maps and scenery 
and photo samples for salesmen are leading specialties. Send, as early as possible, witli full 
description, for anv work desired, slating size and for what use plates are wanted. Photo- 
graphs and prints similar to those desired will aid us in making definite estimates. 

«®- Agents wanted. Call and see specimens, or write for samples, prices and any further 
Information wanted, to the 

DEWEY ENGRAVING CO., A. T. Dewev, Manager. 
Office with Illustr.^ted" Paci!-ic States, 220 Market St., San Francisco. 



Nitrogeiieous Superphosphate 

FERTILIZERS, 

MANUFACTURED BY THE 

Mexican Phosphate and Sulphur Company 

FROM 

GENUINE IMPORTED GUANO OR PHOSPHATES. 



It is the best known fertilizer in the world; and is so indorsed by the oldest author- 
ities in Europe, to which country the Company have already shipped over $500,000 worth, 
and the demand is largely increasing. It is the cheapest and most complete fertilizer for 
trees, vines, grains, grasses, sugar cane, sugar beets, vegetables, berries, fruits, gardens 
parks, lawns, etc. Its value consists in the large percentage it contains of phosphoric 
acid, the chief element of all plant food, in combination with the necessary quantities of 
potash and ammonia, and the ease and cheapness with which it can be applied. It is not 
offensive either to touch or smell, and once tried will give entire satisfaction. Ordinary 
farm crops require from 250 to 300 pounds per acre; trees and vines from 1 to 5 pounds 
each. In a test made, barley crop yielded 51 bushels where fertilized, against 22 bushels 
per acre not fertilized. It is a genuine article, certain to increase the 3'ield and improve 
its quality, while improving the land and making the farm better each year. It has been 
used extensively in California the past year, with very satisfactory results. 

THe Company Mannlactures 3 ESTABLISHED QRADES "FERTILIZER;' as follows: 



Guaranteed 







for 



Brand IB) for Brand 



© 



for 



Analysis. 


^^ 


/ Sugar Cane, 
Sugar Beets, etc. 


Grain, Lawns, 
Gardens, etc. 


Fruits, Vineyards, 
etc. 




10 to II per cent. 
9 to lo 
3 to 4 


15 per cent. 
2 " 
2 " 


12 per cent. 
5 to 6 
3 to 4 


Potash 







And will manufacture to order any especial grade desired. 
For sale, in lots to suit, by the 

MEXICAN PHOSPHATE AND SULPHUR COMPANY. 

A. HAIvSEY, Secretary, 

32S Montgomery Street, Room 7, 

H. DUTARD, President, 

126 and 12S Sacramento Street, 

San Franci.sco, Cal 

H. M. NEWHALL & CO., Agents, 

309 and 311 Sansotne St., 

San Francisco, Cal. 

Send, for Circ-La.la.rs, Etc. 




m 




■"Q. 



i"^ 



%m 




^ 






